First game at the new Olympic hockey arena turns into a celebration for host Italy

MILAN (AP) — All the worries, strife and scrutiny that lingered around the construction of the main hockey arena for the Milan Cortina Olympics dissipated as the first game there into a celebration for the host country.

Fans in the lively, near-full crowd chanted, “Italia! Italia!" throughout. Host Italy's women's team beat France 4-1 on Thursday, and while the conditions may not have been perfect, getting through an official game marked a milestone for much-talked-about Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

“I believe in the Olympic Committee and the Italians and that they would get it done,” Italy's Laura Fortino said. “The ice was great, the atmosphere is great and we’re happy to be here.”

There were years of concerns about whether the arena would be finished in time for the Olympics, and it needed a rush to the eleventh hour, including work happening as late as Wednesday — less than 24 hours before puck drop. This was the real test of the new ice surface that needed to be fixed up after a series of test events

Ice master Don Moffatt had doubts as recently as early last week when his preparation hit yet another snag. When meaningful hockey finally took place, it drew mixed but mostly positive reviews.

“Quality of the ice-wise, I think it was fine,” said Gabrielle de Serres, who scored France's only goal. “It’s a bit warm in there. It’s a little sweaty on the ice. With all the bodies, it obviously gets warmer. Today was a sunny day, so on top of that, midday game’s going to be kind of hot out there.”

Italy fell behind in the game, and Amie Varano thought the ice aided the comeback.

“It was solid,” said Varano, who's from Massachusetts. "I felt like we were flying as a team. We’re a fast team, so I feel like the ice was prepared for us and, yeah, it was great. I loved it.”

The ice conversation might quiet for a few days, though it's sure to become a topic of conversation again when NHL players arrive Sunday and begin practicing before the men’s tournament begins Wednesday. The U.S. and Canada women's game is also at the big rink on Tuesday night.

The capacity now is just 11,600, down from an estimated 14,700, after the decision was made to not add the extra seats in an effort to stay as on-schedule as possible to get the building done. There were 10,000 or more in attendance for Italy-France, and fans were into the game from the start.

“It was probably one of the most fun games I’ve ever played,” Italy goaltender Martina Fedel said. “The atmosphere was unbelievable. I don’t think we thought it was going to be anything like that.”

Varano could not find words to describe a day she and her teammates have been talking about for three months. Fortino shed some tears of joy skating around the rink afterward as the emotions poured out.

“It just hits such to the heart,” Fortino said. “We all deserve it. We’ve worked so hard.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Italy's Franziska Stocker (18) skates to celebrate with teammates after winning a preliminary round match of women's ice hockey against France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Spectators pose for a selfie outside Milano Santagiulia ice hockey arena before Italy and France play a women's hockey game at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Darryl Dyck /The Canadian Press via AP)

France and Italy players take part in the pregame skate before playing a women's hockey game at the Milano Santagiulia ice hockey arena, at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Darryl Dyck /The Canadian Press via AP)

Italy's Matilde Fantin (17) celebrates scoring a goal in the third period with Italy's Nadia Mattivi (93), Italy's Justine Reyes (11), Italy's Franziska Stocker (18), as France's Estelle Duvin (12) skates away during a preliminary round match of women's ice hockey between Italy and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Italy's Kayla Tutino (82) celebrates after scoring a goal in the first period during a preliminary round match of women's ice hockey against France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

NEW YORK (AP) — During the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts worried that disruptions to cancer diagnosis and treatment would cost lives. A new study suggests they were right.

The federally funded study published Thursday by the medical journal JAMA Oncology is being called the first to assess the effects of pandemic-related disruptions on the short-term survival of cancer patients.

Researchers found that people diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and 2021 had worse short-term survival than those diagnosed between 2015 and 2019. That was true across a range of cancers, and whether they were diagnosed at a late or early stage.

Of course, COVID-19 itself was especially dangerous to patients already weakened by cancer, but the researchers worked to filter out deaths mainly attributed to the coronavirus, so they could see if other factors played a role.

The researchers were not able to definitively show what drove worse survival, said Todd Burus of the University of Kentucky, the study’s lead author.

“But disruptions to the health care system were probably a key contributor,” said Burus, who specializes in medical data analysis.

COVID-19 forced many people to postpone cancer screenings — colonoscopies, mammograms and lung scans — as the coronavirus overwhelmed doctors and hospitals, especially in 2020.

Earlier research had shown that overall cancer death rates in the U.S. continued to decline throughout the pandemic, and there weren’t huge shifts in late diagnoses.

Recinda Sherman, a researcher on that earlier paper, applauded the new work.

“As this study is the first to document pandemic-related, cause-specific survival, I think it is important," said Sherman, of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. “The more we understand about the impact of COVID-19, the better we will be able to prepare for the next one.”

How could overall cancer death rates decline in 2020 and 2021, while short-term survival worsen for newly diagnosed patients?

Cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment measures that for years had been pushing cancer death rates down did not suddenly disappear during the pandemic, Burus noted.

“We didn’t forget how to do those things," he said. “But disruptions could have changed access, could have changed how quickly people were getting treated.”

Further research will show if any impact was lasting, said Hyuna Sung, senior principal scientist and cancer epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society.

“Transient declines in survival that quickly recover may have little impact on long-term mortality trends," she said.

The new study tapped national cancer registry data to focus more specifically on patients who had a first diagnosis of a malignant cancer in 2020 and 2021. More than 1 million people were diagnosed with cancer in those two years, and about 144,000 died within one year, according to the researchers' data.

The researchers looked at one-year survival rates for those patients, checking for what stage they were at the time of diagnosis.

They calculated that one-year survival was lower for both early- and late-stage diagnoses, for all cancer sites combined. Most worrisome were large differences seen in colorectal, prostate and pancreatic cancers, they said.

Overall, the researchers found that more than 96% of people who got an early-stage cancer diagnosis in 2020 and 2021 — and more than 74% of those with a late-stage diagnosis — survived more than a year. Those rates were slightly lower than would have been expected based on 2015-2019 trends, resulting in about 17,400 more deaths than expected.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE - A radiologist uses a magnifying glass to check mammograms for breast cancer in Los Angeles, May 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)