Para ice hockey has a major distinguishing feature at the Paralympic Games: teams can be mixed. In reality, women remain rare. Before Milan-Cortina, only three female hockey players had participated in the Paralympic Games: Britt Mjaasund Oeyen (Norway), Lena Schroeder (Norway), and Yu Jing (China). This year, there will be two: Japan's Akari Fukunishi (35 years old), who already played this past weekend, and Slovakia's Michaela Hozakova (23 years old), who is waiting for her chance. It's an opportunity to gain visibility and make a lasting impression.
The dream of a 100% women's tournament at the Games
Akari Fukunishi and Michaela Hozakova participated in the very first edition of the Women's Para Ice Hockey World Championships last August in Slovakia… and wearing the same jersey. The Japanese and Slovakian players were part of a rather special team: Team World, composed of players who do not have their own national team. Fourteen players from Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, France, Japan, and South Korea teamed up for this tournament. They were outmatched by Canada (0-10), but put up a good fight against Great Britain (2-1). They finished on a high note by defeating Australia for fifth place (9-0).
This tournament constituted " a game changer for the future of our sport "According to the senior director of World Para Ice Hockey, Michelle Laflamme, in the perspective of to increase the participation of women in para ice hockey worldwide and to call for the inclusion of a women's event in the program of future Paralympic Winter Games. "Because that is what is at stake in the medium term: to grow women's para ice hockey so that it reaches a level of development sufficient to exist on its own, and without being grafted onto the men, at the Paralympic Games.
Training ambassadors
In 2023, World Para Ice Hockey received an IPC award for its efforts to increase female participation. It is very important for the Paralympic Movement to have strong female representation, and the evolution of women's para ice hockey testifies to the transformative and inclusive power of para sport " Andrew Parsons rejoiced last year, hoping " to see more and more nations joining women's para ice hockey in the near future ».
To achieve this, in addition to leveraging the visibility of figures like Akari Fukunishi and Michaela Hozakova, a development camp will take place in early June in Finland, at the Vierumäki Olympic training center, under the supervision of World Para Ice Hockey. The goal: to welcome up to 30 female hockey players from around the world for “ train more countries and female athletes around the world "That's what American Monica Quimby, a member of last summer's world champion team, said. On the agenda: skating, stickhandling, tactics, and nutrition to give the hockey players the tools they need."
« The goal is to identify emerging talent and motivate them to create their own para ice hockey teams. We're not just developing women's para ice hockey; we're expanding our community globally and training the next generation of female leaders in our sport. “,” says Monica Quimby, certain of one thing: We are on the road to the Paralympic Games. »
