Olympics, Women:

Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament in Sochi 2014

Participants: Nations ranked 1-6 according to the 2012 IIHF Women’s World Ranking plus two qualifiers.

Seeding:
Group A: 1, 2, 3, 4
Group B: 5, 6, 7, 8

Note: This is the only major change compared to 2010 as the preliminary round will take place in two tiers, as Group A will consist of teams ranked 1-4 while Group B will be comprised of teams ranked 5-8. Quarter-finals: 3A-2B & 4A-1B, semi-finals: 1A vs. winner 4A/1B, 2A vs. winner 3A/2B.

Final Olympic Qualification (2 tournaments, 7-10 February 2013)

Nations ranked 7-12 plus the two winners from the Olympic Pre-Qualification.

Olympic Pre-Qualification (2 tournaments, 8-11 November 2012)

Nations ranked 13-18 plus qualifiers from any preliminary qualification required or ranked nations 18 and higher.