2024 IIHF Women´s Ice Hockey World Cham­pi­onship Divi­sion IA: Seven days of pure ice hockey

Norway and Hungary will now play in the top tier of the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia, while Denmark and China are relegated from above and Slovakia are promoted from below into Division I Group A.

Norway return to the top level for the first time since 1997. Hungary have secured an immediate return to the Top Division, in which the Magyars competed between 2021 and 23.

With Annika Fazokas (9 points), Theresa Schafzahl (9 points) and Anna Meixner (8 points), no fewer than three Austrians finished in the top 4 of the scoring standings. Only France’s Estelle Duvin, with 10 points, finished ahead of the red-white-red trio.

Although Austria missed out on promotion, hosting the World Championship provided a decisive boost to the visibility and further professionalisation of women’s ice hockey in Austria. There was extensive daily coverage across all media, while every Austria game was broadcast live on ORF SPORT +. The game against Hungary was the first to break the barrier of more than 2.000 spectators in the arena, before a new attendance record of 2.385 fans was set in the final game against the Netherlands.

All games were produced to the highest television standards and broadcast live to several countries. Thanks to the use of a total of 8 cameras, officials were also able to review controversial incidents.

More than 100 staff members and volunteers ensured the event ran smoothly almost around the clock.

Martin Kogler, General Secretary, 2024 IIHF Women´s Ice Hockey World Championship Division IA: “We were able to take the Division IA World Championship to a new level. The feedback we received from the IIHF and the national associations was exclusively positive. We achieved our goal of breaking the 2.000 mark not just once, but twice. We were able to show many people in the arena and in front of their television screens just how attractive women’s ice hockey is. A big thank you goes to our partners and sponsors, above all win2day, as well as the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, the Province of Carinthia and the City of Klagenfurt. More than 40 partners supported this event, which can rightly be described as a flagship event.”

Final standings: 2024 IIHF Women´s Ice Hockey World Championship Division I, Group A

Best Player

Best Goaltender – Ena Nystrom (NOR)
Best Defenceman – Annika Fazokas (AUT)
Best Forward – Estelle Duvin (FRA)