​The roster for the women’s hockey team heading to the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps is set to expand to 25 players, up from 23. This adjustment was quietly tucked into the event program released by organizers earlier in the week. By contrast, men’s hockey has carried 25-player rosters in each of the last four Olympics dating back to Sochi in 2014. The organizers are promoting what they describe as the first Winter Games to achieve gender balance, with 1,525 women and 1,521 men among the total 3,046 athletes competing across 126 events. In hockey, the ratio stands at 300 men to 250 women because the men’s tournament features 12 teams while the women compete with 10.
Women’s hockey, which made its Olympic debut in Nagano in 1998—the same year NHL players began participating on the men’s side—continues to grow. The Premier Hockey Federation’s (PWHL) expansion to 12 teams for its fourth season follows seasons with eight teams in the third year and six teams in the first two. Looking ahead to Olympic play in four years, the games will be held in Lyon after a controversial decision by far-right Nice mayor Éric Ciotti to oppose the plan to convert his city’s soccer stadium into temporary rinks. Organizers indicated that the Lyon cluster would also include curling, short-track speed skating, and figure skating.
In recent Olympics, the United States defeated Canada in the gold medal game in Milan last February, with Megan Keller scoring the overtime winner. The U.S. women’s team has claimed gold three times, in 1998, 2018, and 2026, while Canada has captured gold five times, in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2022. For further coverage on women’s hockey, you can visit AP’s dedicated hub.