Triple Olympian switches Sides for the Universiade

GRANADA – Today, 8 February, the last day of the preliminary round of the men’s ice hockey tournament. In the men’s competition Czech Republic played China, while host Spain faced-off against Slovakia.

Triple Olympian Iya Gavrilova leads the Team Russia at the UniversiadePutting a 9-0 on the scoreboard, the Czechs were too strong for China, although the Chinese kept the score 0-0 until the very end of the 1^st period. Spain played Slovakia in front of a full capacity crowd of 5,000. Although they lost 2-5 they got a standing ovation at the end of the game.

The women continued their preliminary round today with only a single game, but what an upsetting game for Canada, as it lost its first game ever since 2009 (3-1). Hockey rivals Canada and Russia played indeed an exciting game in front of another capacity crowd. But the game had another interesting twist. Indeed, while playing for their country Iya Gavrilova and Alexandra Vafina are wearing the Russian jersey, but when they represent their school, they don the sweater of the Calgary Dinos, as both forwards study at the University of Calgary in Canada.

With Gavrilova, Team Russia has quite a power forward on its roster. Triple Olympian (2006, 2010 & 2014), Iya is a member of the National Russian squad since 2003. When she wears the Dinos sweater she teams up with Female hockey legend Hailey Wickenheiser, who she played against at the Olympics.

The Russian Team Captain opened the score. “It felt good to score that first goal. The Universiade is a little different than the Olympics, as it’s only once in four years. But I think the Universiade is a great opportunity for every student in the world to compete on a high international level. I experience that with some of my teammates, who never made the real national team, so this is a great opportunity for every student-athlete to experience playing at a major multi-sport event.” The fact that Iya plays in the CIS (Canadian NUSF league) was a confident boost for the team. She knows some of the opponents in team Canada and this might have attributed to tonight’s victory. The future looks bright for this female hockey player, but the Krasnoyarsk native regrets one thing: “I was born and raised in Krasnoyarsk, so I’m proud my native city is hosting these games in 2019. Too bad by then I will be too old to participate.”

Text & Photos: Christian Pierre, Press Officer