In Tuesday’s women’s hockey game against the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team, the Finnish team wore masks under their helmets as a preemptive measure against the COVID-19 virus.
It turned out to be a fortuitous decision by the Finnish side as ROC forward Polina Bolgareva, tested positive after the 5-0 shutout loss to Finland. Close quarters and physical play make it impossible to maintain social distancing during on-ice play and face-offs.
“I don’t understand how this happened. (Bolgareva’s) test in the morning that had shown a negative result suddenly became positive,” said ROC coach Evgeny Bobariko
Coach Bobariko says the team found out about the positive test after arriving back at the Olympic Village following the game.
On Monday, the ROC women’s hockey team faced Canada, and both the Canadian and Russian teams agreed to wear face masks. The start of the contest was delayed as the Russian team awaited test results conducted prior to the game. The ROC team was without eight players due to positive tests with some players testing positive the day before.
The Canadians kept their masks on all game, but the Russians removed theirs for the third period after having received their test results. No matter, as the Canadians won easily in a 6-1 blowout.
“Everybody saw how we played against Canada with masks and took them off after the second period, when we received the results of our tests. They were all negative,” said Bobariko.
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