Real life ‘Heated Rivalry’: These two women hockey players are engaged and play for Finland and Sweden
Ronja Savolainen and Anna Kjellbin, fiancées in real life, could face off on the ice at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
If your partner were taking part in a major sporting event, you would probably be their biggest supporter, cheering them on every step of the way. That won’t exactly be the case for engaged couple Ronja Savolainen and Anna Kjellbin, who are set to go head to head for a gold medal in women’s ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
From teammates to rivals
Savolainen, who plays for the Ottawa Charge in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), and Kjellbin of the Toronto Sceptres also represent different national teams, both aiming for gold at Milano Cortina 2026.
Savolainen already has two Olympic bronze medals with Finland, earned in 2018 and 2022, while Kjellbin is set to make her Olympic debut for Sweden. The two countries have been drawn into different groups in the opening round, which features 10 teams, but could meet later in the tournament when the stakes will be considerably higher.
Love across the ice
The couple first met as teammates in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League but were separated when they were drafted to opposing PWHL teams. Still, with Savolainen in Ottawa and Kjellbin in Toronto, they are able to see each other regularly.
“It was the best thing that could happen, that she got drafted in Toronto, and I got drafted in Ottawa,” Savolainen told Them. “I was more nervous to see where she was ending up than where I ended up. We’re in the same country, at least, the same side of the world, so I’m super happy.”
Rivalry on the ice
Their relationship, though, takes a backseat whenever the Charge and the Sceptres - or Finland and Sweden - face off.
“I’m usually the one who goes home as a winner,” Savolainen boasted in a 2024 interview with the Ottawa Citizen. “I don’t care who’s in front of me… if it’s going to be her, I’m going to hit her… When you play, you just play. You don’t really think about who’s there. You’re friends after. On the ice, she’s my enemy. That’s how it goes.”
With Finland ranked third in the IIHF world rankings and Sweden sixth, both teams could advance to the knockout rounds, potentially putting Savolainen and Kjellbin on a collision course as they fight it out for Olympic glory.
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