Short answer
The United States beat Canada 3-1 in the final. Finland won bronze, beating China 4-1.
What happened
Women's hockey made its Olympic debut in Nagano in 1998 with six teams. Canada had won every earlier world title, with the United States second each time.
The United States beat Canada 3-1 in the final to become the first Olympic women's champion. Finland beat China 4-1 for bronze. Finland's Petra Vaarakallio scored the first goal in Olympic women's hockey.
Read next: Women’s Olympic hockey since 1998.
Key facts
- Host
- Nagano, Japan
- Dates
- 8 to 17 February 1998
- Venues
- Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena
- Teams
- 6
- Games
- 17
- Goals
- 119 (7.0 a game)
- Attendance
- 81,707
- Top scorer
- Riikka Nieminen (Finland), 12 points
Final standings
| Place | Team | Record | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | United States | 6-0 | 36:8 |
| Silver | Canada | 4-2 | 29:15 |
| Bronze | Finland | 4-2 | 31:11 |
| 4th | China | 2-4 | 11:19 |
| 5th | Sweden | 1-4 | 10:21 |
| 6th | Japan | 0-5 | 2:45 |
More women’s tournaments
2002 tournament All women’s tournaments
See every podium in the complete results list, or how each country did in the medal finder.
Source for this page
Wikipedia: Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics: Women's tournament (results, standings, scoring leader and awards, read October 29, 2026).
Questions people ask
Who won the 1998 Olympic women’s hockey gold?
The United States. Canada won silver and Finland bronze.
Who led the 1998 tournament in scoring?
Riikka Nieminen of Finland, with 12 points.
Sources
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. Spotted an error? Results are checked against the linked sources; tell us through the corrections note on the about page.