Czech Republic to host women's ice hockey world championship in 2025

The Czech Republic will host the women's ice hockey world championship in for the very first time in 2025, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has announced from its congress in Tampere during the ongoing men's world championship, which culminates this weekend.

The news means that the Czech Republic will host back-to-back hockey world championships. Next year, the country will host the men's ice hockey world championship, with games slated to be played in Prague and Ostrava.

It has not been revealed which cities will host the women's world championship in 2025, but Prague, Ostrava, and Brno are often host cities for major hockey tournaments played in the country.

"We are very happy that we managed to win [our bid to host the tournament]," says Tereza Sadilová, general manager of the Czech women's ice hockey team. "We showed interest in hosting the championship even before Covid, before the success of the national team."

"I am pleased that we will be able to present to Czech fans combative Czech women's hockey, which until now they only know from TV screens. We want to provide them with a first-class event and show world women's hockey that the Czech Republic is a hockey country - without exceptions or differences!"

The Czech Republic's women's ice hockey team has been quickly growing in prominence in recent years. Last year, the team took part in the Winter Olympics for the first time in the country's history, ultimately finishing seventh at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.

After the Beijing Olympics, the Czech women's ice hockey team earned a bronze medal at the 2022 IIHF world championship in Denmark. They followed that victory with another bronze medal at the 2023 IIHF world championship, held in Canada last month.

"It’s thrilling. It’s rewarding. It’s all those kind of words, but not for me, it’s for them. And that’s the thing when you’re a coach. It’s not about you or what you know or how you feel. It’s about them," Czech women's ice hockey head coach Carla MacLeod told media after the bronze medal victory in April.

"There’s work to be done, but I just sit back and I look at them and I think—I’m watching them walk around now—and they believe. Ted Lasso’s on to something there, because believing is a big piece, but the only way to believe is to cultivate positivity and then find success, and we’ve been really fortunate that way."

The Czech team defeated Switzerland in both 2022 and 2023 to win the bronze medal. The United States and Canada have played for the gold medal both years, with Canada winning in 2022 and the United States in 2023.

The Czech Republic's men's team made an early exit from this year's world championship, falling to the United States 3-0 in quarterfinal action on Thursday.