Angel City defender Savy King has been released from the hospital, just more than a week after she collapsed on the field during a match and needed surgery to treat a heart abnormality.
King posted a photo of herself in the hospital holding a heart-shaped pillow and giving a thumbs up on social media Sunday.
“I’m still finding the words to express just how much your love and support have meant to me over these past few days. What I do know is that I wouldn’t be getting through this without my incredible family by my side, my amazing teammates who have shown up for me and prayed for me, the fans, the entire soccer community, and the outstanding medical team here at ACFC who saved my life and cared for me every step of the way,” she wrote on the post. “I know God’s got me and I’m looking forward to recovering and getting back out on the field!”
Angel City issued a statement that said King had been released from the hospital the day before.
King, 20, collapsed during the second half in a National Women's Soccer League match between Angel City and the visiting Utah Royal on May 9.
She was treated on the field for more than 10 minutes before she was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Once there, doctors discovered a heart abnormality and she underwent surgery on Tuesday. Her prognosis was good, the team said.
Players and fans alike were shaken by the incident but the match continued, a move that was widely criticized. The league later said it was reviewing its policies.
The NWSL Players Association was among those that said the match should not have continued.
“These moments demand humanity, sound judgment, and restraint. Any medical emergency that requires the administration of life-saving care should bring play to an end. The match should not have continued,” the NWSLPA said.
On Friday, a league statement expressed regret for allowing the match to continue.
“The health and well being of the entire NWSL community remains our top priority, and in any similar situation going forward the game should and would be abandoned,” said the statement.
Angel City visited Bay FC in a match on Saturday night, the team's first since King's collapse. Before kickoff at San Jose's PayPal Park, both teams wore shirts with ‘SK3’ printed on the front as a tribute to King. Angel City captain Sarah Gorden also held up King’s jersey during the team photo.
NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman spoke to reporters at halftime.
“All we could do is learn from the experience and conclude that in a future situation, we will ensure that our policies and protocols do not allow the game to continue," she said in her first comments about King's collapse.
King was the second-overall pick in the 2024 NWSL draft by expansion Bay FC and played 18 games for the club. She was traded to Angel City in February and had started in eight games for the team this season.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Houston Dash forward Michelle Alozie, left and Bay FC defender Savy King compete for possession of the ball during the first half of an NWSL soccer match, March 30, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
