The first women's ice hockey world championship, a biennial tournament, took place in 1990. Discussions to include women's ice hockey at the 1998 games began in 1992, and it was decided to include them in the program in 1993. The tournament included six teams playing in a one-group round-robin tournament. The top two team advanced to the gold medal game, and the teams ranked third and fourth played in the bronze medal match. The favorites were the Canadians, who had won the three previous world championships, with the Americans finishing second each time. In the round-robin tournament, the Americans finished first, with the Canadians second. In the last round-robin game, the Americans handily defeated the Canadians, 7–4, with the two teams scoring nine goals in the third period. In the gold medal match, with 8,626 fans in attendance at Big Hat, the Americans defeated the Canadians 3–1. Team Finland defeated Team China 4–1 for the bronze medal.