GB women's Winter Olympic bid comes to the crunch as Sheffield Steelers look to build on confidence

Victory over Latvia in the first of three group games at iceSheffield on Thursday highlights the strides made in the GB women’s ice hockey programme. Now the challenge is to finish the job this weekend.

GB opened the penultimate phase of qualifying for the 2026 Winter Olympics with 3-2 win over Latvia, and should they beat Spain today (4pm) and Netherlands tomorrow (4pm) back at iceSheffield, they will top the group and progress to the final stage of Olympic qualifying in February.

Catherine Gale, who scored against Latvia on her 50th appearance for her country, said: "We’re moving forward as a programme, the investment that has been put in over the last six months to a year has really shown and it’s really developing our game.

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"We’re keen learners, we love to improve all the time. The possession-based game is something we’re learning.

Big weekend in Sheffield ahead for the GB women's ice hockey programme.Big weekend in Sheffield ahead for the GB women's ice hockey programme.
Big weekend in Sheffield ahead for the GB women's ice hockey programme.

"It’s two big matches this weekend, the team is feeling confident and we’re looking forward to it.”

Another team facing a big weekend is the Sheffield Steelers, fresh from a 9-0 thrashing of Guildford Flames in the Elite League on Wednesday.

Head coach Aaron Fox described that performance as “relentless” and wants to see the confidence carried into Glasgow Clan at home tonight, and Belfast Giants on the road on Sunday.

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"A very hot Glasgow team is coming to town and then it’s the quick turnaround with an early, same-day flight to Belfast, so it’s a huge weekend,” he said.

"Confidence is important. Hopefully we can build off these last games after a rough stretch. When we’re at our best we’re a hard team to handle.”

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