Feb 22, 2018
Riikka Valila became the oldest ice hockey medallist at a Winter Olympics as Finland took bronze – 20 years after she first won a medal.
The Finns, who led 2-0, beat the Olympic athletes from Russia 3-2 to finish third in Pyeongchang.
Valila, 44, won bronze at the 1998 Games in Nagano and retired in 2003, but competed in Sochi in 2014.
Wednesday’s victory brought Finland a fourth medal of the 2018 Games and their third women’s hockey bronze.
They raced ahead before Olga Sosina responded for OAR midway through the second period.
Linda Valimaki extended Finland’s lead and, despite a third-period goal from OAR, they held on to secure bronze.
OAR coach Alexei Chistyakov said he hoped the team’s success would help change negative attitudes towards women’s hockey in Russia.
“I think that the games the girls played here as they fought for their country will nudge this male mentality and turn it upside down, at least among part of the population,” he said.
Four-time defending champions Canada play the United States in the gold-medal match on Friday.
