Led by Marie-Philip Poulin, a.k.a. “Captain Clutch,” defending Olympic gold medal-winning Canada is leaning heavily on experience in unveiling its 23-player women’s hockey roster on Friday for the Milan Cortina Games next month.
Team Canada returns 16 players from the team that set numerous scoring records and finished 7-0 in dominating the 2022 Beijing Games.
The 34-year-old Poulin will be making her fifth Olympic appearance. And she earned her nickname for scoring three Olympic gold-medal-winning goals, including Canada’s 3-2 win over the United States four years ago.
“We are confident we have selected a highly motivated and eager group who take great pride an passion in wearing the Maple Leaf,” Team Canada general manager Gina Kingsbury said. “It has been a long four-year journey for the entire team, and we are excited for the opportunity to compete for a gold medal.”
Other notable returning forwards include Sarah Nurse, who in 2022 set the women’s Olympic tournament record for most points (18) and assists (13), as well as Sarah Fillier, Blayre Turnbull and Natalie Spooner. On defense, the Canadians bring back 37-year-old Jocelyn Laroque, Renata Fast and Claire Thompson.
And Canada will have experience in net with Ann-Renee Desbiens set to make her third Olympic appearance. The projected starter allowed just five goals on 150 shots in winning five games at Beijing.
The third-year Professional Women’s Hockey League is well-represented, with all 23 Canadians competing in the eight-team league.
The expectation was for the Troy Ryan-coached Canadians to go with experience in preparing to face a much younger U.S. squad. The Americans spent the past four years retooling and, last week, unveiled a 23-player roster featuring just 11 returnees from 2022, with seven players still competing in the college ranks.
The Americans are favored to win what would be their third gold since women’s hockey began Olympic competition at the 1998 Nagano Games. Canada has won the tournament five times.
The U.S. put its skill on display in sweeping Canada in a four-game exhibition Rivalry Series late last year, in which they outscored their cross-border rivals by a combined 24-7.
Though Rivalry Series results don’t generally reflect the outcomes in international competition, the four losses led to questions regarding Canada’s ability to keep up with the speedier Americans.
“These are important games. We didn’t show up. It’s unacceptable. And we’re all aware of it,” Poulin said following a 10-4 loss in Game 3, which marked the most goals the Canadian women have ever allowed.
The global powers have split the past four world championships, with the Americans most recently winning gold following a 3-2 overtime victory over the Canadians in April.
Canada opens the Games against Finland on Feb. 5. And their preliminary round showdown against the U.S. will take place five days later.
Among the Canadian newcomers are defender Sophie Jaques and forwards Daryl Watts and Kristin O’Neill.
Among the snubs were forward Danielle Serdachny and defender Micah Zandee-Hart, captain of the PWHL New York Sirens. Serdachny, most notably, scored the decisive goal in Canada’s 6-5 overtime win over the U.S. in the gold-medal game at the 2024 world championships.
It’s unclear if Canada was barred by the International Ice Hockey Federation from including Hannah Miller, because the forward previously represented China at the 2022 Games.
AP Olympic coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Montreal Victoire's Marie-Philip Poulin (29) celebrates with teammates Laura Stacey (7) and Kati Tabin (9) after scoring against the Minnesota Frost during overtime in a PWHL hockey game in Laval, Quebec, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Victoire Captain Marie-Philip Poulin donates a jersey from her personal collection during the launch of the Great Canadian Jersey initiative in Montreal, Canada, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria (AP) — Lindsey Vonn showed again Saturday she is the standout downhill racer in this Olympic season.
Vonn won her second World Cup downhill in four races this season, raising expectations in this remarkable comeback racing at age 41 with her right knee rebuilt using titanium implants.
The United States star was 0.37 seconds faster than Kajsa Vickhoff Lie in tricky, overcast conditions. Vonn was jumping up cheering in the leader’s box when her teammate Jacqueline Wiles raced into third place, 0.48 back.
On a shortened course that took her fewer than 67 seconds to complete, Vonn still clocked 130 kph (81 mph) for one of the fastest speeds any women racer will hit this season.
“It feels amazing. I try to enjoy every single second I am out here because it is just so fun to go fast,” she said.
Vonn crossed the finish line with a look of determined satisfaction, punching the air with her right fist and nodding with short, sharp movements of her head.
“I knew what it was going to take to win today," she said. "It was a sprint and I had to give it everything I had, definitely had to risk a little bit.”
With each victory, Vonn extends her record as the oldest race winner in the 60-season history of the World Cup circuit. Her 84th career win on the circuit was her record-extending 45th in downhill.
The United States star later made a family video phone call alongside her coach Aksel Lund Svindal, the men’s downhill champion at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics where Vonn took bronze in the women’s race.
Vonn was Olympic downhill champion at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and shapes as a strong contender for the next gold medal race scheduled Feb. 8 on the first Sunday at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
It is at the storied Cortina d’Ampezzo slope where Vonn has excelled in her career, including a World Cup downhill win eight years ago where Wiles also was third.
“Being on the podium again with her is super special,” Wiles said.
Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic champion, was only 17th Saturday trailing Vonn by 0.97.
The defending Olympic champion, Corinne Suter, made her season debut Saturday after injuries and was more than a second slower than Vonn.
The U.S. team had five racers in the top 20 with world champion Breezy Johnson seventh, 21-year-old Allison Mollin a career-best 14th and Keely Cashman tied for 18th, less than a second behind Vonn.
The race was delayed for 25 minutes while Austrian prospect Magdalena Egger was airlifted from the course after a season-ending fall and crash into the safety nets. She stood up with a bloodied nose, and later tests showed extensive damage to her right knee including a torn ACL, the Austrian ski federation said.
Egger was runner-up in Vonn’s season-opening downhill win last month at St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Vonn extended her lead in the season-long World Cup downhill standings, after finishing second and third in the other races. Saturday’s race was the fourth of nine scheduled downhills in the World Cup this season.
She earned 100 race points and now leads by 129 from Emma Aicher of Germany, who placed sixth Saturday. Vonn is chasing a ninth World Cup downhill season title a full 10 years after her eighth, when she also won in Zauchensee.
“I felt like I was skiing better in super-G this summer," she said, "but when I got to the races in St Moritz everything was working really well right from the start.”
On Sunday, Vonn will start in a super-G that should be on a longer course than the downhill.
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
United States' Lindsey Vonn sprays sparkling wine as she celebrates on podium after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn is airborne as she speeds down the course to win an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Austria's Magdalena Egger is lifted on a helicopter after crashing during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Austria's Magdalena Egger gets medical assistance after crashing during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
United States' Lindsey Vonn is airborne as he speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn reacts at the finish line during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
