The Canadian and Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) women’s hockey teams were forced to wear masks during their Monday matchup following a 65-minute delay of their game.
Competitors and referees were masked during the hockey match following over an hour long delay caused by uncertainty of Russia’s COVID-19 tests, according to the New York Times. The International Ice Hockey Federation officially credited the incident to “safety and security concerns,” according to the outlet. (RELATED: Olympic Athletes Complain About Conditions At Beijing Games, Lack Of Food)
Team Canada top doctor Mike Wilkinson on the Canadian decision to continue to wear N95 masks:
“Team Canada quite rightly decided to keep wearing the masks throughout the entire game”
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) February 7, 2022
“We were asked to wait, we waited. We were asked to wait more, we waited more,” said ROC hockey player Anna Shibanova, according to CBC. “Then there was the decision that we should put on masks. We put them on without any issue and came out.”
Canada won the competition with a score of 6-1, according to ABC News. The ROC team removed their masks during the third period after no COVID-19 tests came back positive, but the Canadian team opted to leave their masks on, the outlet reported.
Three Russian players and one Canadian player were unable to compete in the match due to positive or inconclusive COVID-19 test results, according to ABC News.
“We’re so used to rolling with the punches,” Canadian player Brianne Jenner said, according to ABC News. “We were just keeping it light. We were laughing, joking in the room, dancing. We were just ready for anything. If we’ve got to play in these again, we will.”