PHOTO ⟩ They are home! Tens of thousands of people are waiting for the Latvian hockey team at the Freedom Monument

Hockey players and the speeches of their representatives were welcomed by the audience with a much bigger ovation than the politicians.

Mobile communications did not work in the vicinity of the monument. Latvijas Televīzija informs that network overload is observed in the vicinity of the Freedom Monument, so it is not possible to provide the promised live broadcast. Meanwhile, Latvian Radio broadcasts live.

As observed by the LETA agency, a couple of those who arrived had health problems and needed medical assistance.

On Sunday, the Latvian national team finished the championship with the third place, defeating the Americans 4:3 in the game for bronze medals.

For Latvia, it has become the most successful championship of all time. Previously, the best result was seventh place, won three times.

The Latvian national team started the championship with two losses, losing 0:6 to Canada and 1:2 to Slovakia. After that, for the first time in the history of the championship, they managed to defeat the Czechs (4:3 in extra time), as well as beat Norway 2:1, Slovenia 3:2, Kazakhstan 7:0 and Switzerland 4:3 in extra time. The points obtained in the last match allowed not only to enter the quarter-finals, but also to win the third place in subgroup B.

Latvian ice hockey players beat Sweden 3:1 in the quarterfinals, but lost to Canada 2:4 in the semifinals.

The Canadians became the winners of the world championships, beating Germany 5:2 in the decisive match.