Russians win in women's hockey after quarantine at Olympics

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The Russian women's hockey team has gone from quarantine to an Olympic win in two days.

The Russians were in isolation in the Olympic Village from Monday to Wednesday and couldn’t train after one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks so far at the Beijing Games. It wasn't an ideal situation ahead of its opening group game against Switzerland, but they still won 5-2.

"We came to the Olympics and we had to sit in our rooms without the opportunity to practice," said Russian forward Alexandra Vafina, who had two assists. "It was hard but we got all together, we stayed positive and we took this little opportunity that we had."

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Russian Olympic Committee's Polina Bolgareva, left, celebrates after scoring a goal against Switzerland during a preliminary round women's hockey game at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The United States and Canada each lost key players because of injury, but the Russians are worse hit with six of their original 23-player roster from last month now unavailable after virus positives, including captain Olga Sosina. Vafina said the team sent fun, supportive messages on a group chat to keep spirits up and ensure the replacement players who arrived later feel welcome.

Russia's name and flag are banned from the Olympics in the fallout from years of doping disputes, so the team is playing as ROC, short for Russian Olympic Committee. The ROC team only had 18 skaters and two goaltenders available for the