The 4th Youth Olympic Winter Games were held in Gangwon, Korea from January 19th to February 1st. Tara was one of 1900 athletes representing 81 countries in 81 medal competitions. Updated: Feb 1st.
Tara currently plays U22 Elite and has committed to play NCAA D1 hockey for Dartmouth College earlier this year after winning the Canadian U18 Nationals, the Esso Cup, with her Stoney Creek Sabres U18 AA team in April in Prince Albert, SK. The Youth Olympics were Tara's first appearance for Team Germany's squad at a major international event after winning her first international exhibition game against Austria with a 4-0 shutout for their U16 team in 2023 and attending U18 selection camps last summer.
Bach in net for Germany - photo credit: DOSB / Team Deutschland
Based on the IIHF youth rankings the top 11 nations - and the host country, South Korea - had to decide if they would send either a men's or a women's team. The 6 nations sending women's teams to the
Youth Olympics 2024 in Gangwon, South Korea were Sweden (#2), Switzerland (#7), Germany (#8), Japan (#9), Norway (#10) and France (#11).
Preliminary round:
4-0 W vs. France
2-1 L vs. Switzerland
Semi-Final:
6-1L vs. Sweden
Tara got the nod to play the Bronze medal game against Switzerland at the Gangneung Hockey Centre (home of the 2018
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics) again after playing a strong game against the Swiss in the preliminary round. Tara stopped 23 of 24 shots for a 0.958 save percentage (
game sheet) and Germany put the game away with an empty net goal for a 3-1 win in the last minute of play. Sweden dominated the tournament and would win the Gold medal game against Team Japan despite Japan's 27-14 shot on goal advantage over Sweden.
Bach during intermission with Germany's goaltending legend Jenny Harss - photo credit: DOSB / Team Deutschland
Germany celebrating 9🥇, 5🥈 and 6🥉 medals at the Closing Ceremony for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, Korea - photo credit: DOSB / Team Deutschland
On the men's side the US, Canada (roster
here), Finland, Czechia, Slovakia and South Korea battled for Youth Olympic Gold.
The 12th through 28th ranked nations participated in the Youth Olympics in a separate 3x3 tournament format.
The Gangneung Hockey Centre was built for the Pyongcheang 2018 Olympics and hosted the hockey events for Gangwon 2024
Click here to meet Team Canada for the Youth Olympics 2024