Will GB ice hockey reach first Winter Olympics since 1948?
Great Britain's Liam Kirk (left) in action at the 2024 World Championships
- Published
Great Britain's men's ice hockey team are attempting to qualify for a first Winter Olympics since 1948.
They face hosts Denmark, Norway and Japan in the final qualifying event in Aalborg between 29 August and 1 September, with the winner sealing a place at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan.
GB won all three of their matches - against China, Serbia and Romania - in the initial qualifying series in February, but will have to overcome higher-ranked opponents to reach the Games.
Great Britain are currently ranked 17th in the world, whereas Denmark - who reached the quarter-finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics - are 11th and Norway 12th. Japan are 24th.
Head coach Pete Russell said it was the biggest challenge he had faced since taking up the role in 2015.
"It’s a super hard challenge to play Pool A nations after eight months of a season, never mind with such short preparation time, but our players will give it everything they have," he said.
Great Britain have won two Winter Olympic medals in ice hockey - bronze in 1924 and gold in 1936.
Women's ice hockey was introduced at Nagano 1998, but Great Britain have not qualified for a Games.
When are Great Britain playing?
Each team plays each other once with the overall winner booking their ticket to the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Fixtures (all times BST):
Thursday, 29 August
Norway v Japan - 14:30
Denmark v Great Britain - 18:30
Friday, 30 August
Norway v Great Britain - 14:30
Japan v Denmark - 18:30
Sunday, 1 September
Great Britain v Japan - 11:30
Denmark v Norway - 15:30
Which countries will be competing at Milan 2026?
There will be 12 teams in the men's competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics and, for the first time since Sochi in 2014, NHL players will be allowed to compete for their countries.
Eight countries have already booked their places, with hosts Italy joined by the top nations based on the 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) world rankings - Canada, defending Olympic champions Finland, United States, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Czech Republic.
Russia competed as the Russian Olympic Committee at the last Games in Beijing - and won the silver medal - but they, and Belarus, are currently banned for the 2024-2025 season.
The IIHF cited security reasons because of the war in Ukraine and has set a deadline of May 2025 for its ruling council to decide whether Russia and Belarus can return in time for the 2026 Olympics.
Should Russia be allowed, they would qualify as the ninth country to participate, based on the world rankings.
The final three spots will be decided at three separate events taking place this weekend.
Apart from Great Britain's event in Demark, there are also final qualifiers in Slovakia and Latvia.
In Bratislava, hosts Slovakia face Kazakhstan, Austria and Hungary, while hosts Latvia play France, Slovenia and Ukraine in Riga.