Two-time ice hockey Olympic champion Natalie Spooner gave birth to a son on December 6. Now he is participating in the World Cup.
Canada is again one of the big favorites with the United States in the Women’s Ice Hockey World Cup starting on Wednesday.
In the Canadian team, one interesting player is the forward Natalie Spooner. Two-time Olympic champion Spooner gave birth to a son on December 6. Barely four months later, he is part of the World Cup team.
– People think that such a return is impossible. I want to show how important it is to chase what you love, how important it is to try, Spooner said in a video he posted on social media in March, when he was selected for the team.
Spooner, 32, won Olympic gold in 2014 and 2022 and silver in 2018. He has the World Championship from 2012 and 2021. At the 2015 World Cup, Canada missed out on silver, but Spooner was named the best forward of the Games.
Spooner is not the first player to join Canada’s World Cup team after giving birth. For example, a defender Meaghan Mikkelson participated in the 2016 and 2017 World Championships after the birth of her first child and in the 2022 Olympics after the birth of her second.
The World Cup will be played in Brampton, Canada starting Wednesday. Canada plays in Group A together with the United States, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Japan. This time, Finland is playing in the B group.
Canada has won three previous prestigious tournaments, the 2021 and 2022 World Championships and the 2022 Olympics.