Winter Olympics qualifier: Great Britain qualifying hopes ended by loss to Norway

Great Britain men’s ice hockey team’s hopes of qualifying for a first Winter Olympics since 1948 are over after a 6-2 defeat by Norway.

After losing 3-1 to Denmark in their opening match of the final qualifying event in Aalborg, Great Britain needed to win to stay in contention.

However, they went 2-0 down in the first period with Patrick Thoresen getting both goals for Norway a little over two minutes apart.

It was 5-0 by the end of the second as Thoresen completed his hat-trick before goals from Ken Andre Olimb and Mathias Pettersen.

Josh Waller and Ben Davies pulled a couple of goals back for Britain in the third period but Andre Olimb quickly added a sixth for Norway to end any thoughts of a late comeback.

Mark Richardson became GB’s all-time leader in appearances as he won his 117th cap and was made captain for the match.

Only the top side in the four-team group qualifies for the 2026 Games in Milan, and Norway currently lead the way after back-to-back wins.

The British team are currently ranked 17th in the world, while Norway are 12th, Denmark 11th and Japan – who GB face in their last qualifying match on Sunday (11:30 BST) – are in 24th spot.

Great Britain have won two Winter Olympic medals in ice hockey – bronze in 1924 and gold in 1936.