2026 Olympics Profile: St. Cloud State and Germany National Team Forward Svenja Voigt

As the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games draw near, The Ice Garden will be covering the women’s hockey tournament in several different ways. In the lead up to the Games, we’re taking a look at some of the NCAA players taking part.

Next up is St. Cloud State senior forward and German national team member Svenja Voigt.

Voigt is a native of Köln and will be appearing in her first Olympic Games. She made her national team debut at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship. She made her return to women’s worlds in 2023 where she scored her first goal as a member of the national team. She’s played at the last two world championships and appeared in the Olympic Qualification in 2025 where she recorded three points in three games. Germany’s women's hockey team will be returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2014.

The Ice Garden talked to Voigt about being named an Olympian, her country’s journey to the Olympic Games, and how playing for the Huskies helped her prepare for the Winter Games.

Getting to Know Svenja Vogit:

Voigt has appeared in 116 games in the almost four years she’s played at St. Cloud.

She has seven points so far this season.

Voigt was a 2023 AHCA/Krampade All-American Scholar.

Internationally she has played for Germany at the 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

She also appeared in the Olympic Qualification in 2025 and helped Germany secure a spot in the 2026 Winter Olympics Games.

Before starting her career at St. Cloud, Voigt played at Stanstead College in Quebec and for Kölner EC in her native Germany.

A quick Q&A with Svenja Voigt

Answers have been edited for clarity.

THE ICE GARDEN: Let’s start off with your reaction to finding out that you had made the Olympic team.

Voigt: Obviously, I was super excited. It's a childhood dream coming true for me. Something I feel like every athlete dreams about when they're starting a sport is to reach that Olympic goal. I was super excited to make the team. We actually had a qualification tournament before. So my process is also a little bit different from the other girls because we qualified for the tournament about a year ago. We knew that we had the chance to go and there was a really exciting process.

TIG: How were the Olympic qualifier games?

Voigt: It was a tournament containing four nations. So you had three games and the one with the most points wins. Basically you have to win all your games. You can't afford to lose any points. So we won all of the games. But the last one, Hungary, was actually a tight game because they had won all their games too. It was like a mini final and they actually scored 0.1 seconds after the buzzer but that was 0.1 seconds too late.

TIG: I remember that. I do remember the qualifier games.

Voigt: There's a pretty cool picture when just both nations are having their hands up and celebrating. I'm more than happy that we had a better ending to that.

Editor’s note: here’s the video of that moment!

TIG: For taking part in that tournament and knowing that the participation was on the line, did that motivate you more?

Voigt: Yeah, if we wouldn't have won the tournament, we wouldn't have [qualified for the Olympics.] So I was trying to think step by step and focus on that one game because, yeah, I caught myself thinking about the big thing – the Olympics, obviously. But at the same time, I tried to make sure that I'm thinking game by game, step by step, because it could have gone the wrong way too. It would have been more disappointing.

TIG: It must be more exciting too that you have already gone through that and are going to the Olympics.

Voigt: That was obviously a really emotional win for us. So we are even more excited maybe than other nations since we've really put in the work and experienced firsthand how it is to get there. A couple of my teammates played in the qualifiers like four years ago and they knew how heartbreaking that loss was for them. 

TIG: How much does it mean to you that you put in all that time and that effort with the senior national team and that you were able to make it onto Germany’s roster?

Voigt: I'm a big believer that hard work pays off. One time or another, you just have to keep believing and good things will come from that. Obviously we're working here [at St. Cloud] a lot. We're having a lot of practices, a lot of skills, a lot of workouts and stuff. I also like what I like to say to my coaches here is that when I go back home, that I have a second team, so I can compare myself to other people, like how much I've developed. That's just something that proves to me that I'm in the right place here where I can do that, because every time I go back home, everyone develops kind of at the same level. Sometimes you don't realize that you're developing because everyone else is also getting better. Then when you have the comparison to someone else, like at home or like to other teams, it's always nice to see that you're developing and that your hard work pays off.

TIG: How has being at Saint Cloud helped you with your play and also with preparing for the Olympics?

Voigt: Here it's really professional how you can manage school and like your athletics. You don't really have the chance to do that at home. Here, hockey is obviously a lot bigger than in Germany. There's so many rinks around here. We were just skating on an outdoor rink, which is something I could never do in Germany. It just has that much more of an impact here on people. The facilities and the availability of ice time here we can stay on after practice to do some stuff. We have the chance to do skill sessions. Those are all things I wouldn't have at home to be able to play with girls the same age. Also at home, I would have had to join a women's team and here I can kind of play with girls that are around my age. So it's a good system here. Our coaches being Olympians themselves, they know what it takes, what needs to be done and they are inspiring us to be able to reach that goal by talking about how it was for them. They've done a good job supporting us too.

TIG: What are you most excited for when you get to Italy?

Voigt: I'm most looking forward to the opening ceremony because that's a pretty big deal on TV. That's what everyone is posting pictures about. Also to play for your Olympic team to play under the Olympic rings…it's something truly special, what everyone dreams about.. To be in that environment also with other athletes from other nations and other sports will also be unique. I think I'm looking forward to everything.

TIG: Do you think it's going to feel that much more special to put on the jersey, to wear the German jersey?

Voigt: It's always special to play for your country. Worlds comes around every year and the Olympics come around every four years. We haven't been there since I believe 12 years now. So that's more special because maybe it happens once in a lifetime for us, maybe once in my career. It's a bit more special and a bit of a different feeling. But always playing for your country every time [hearing] the national anthem, it gives you goosebumps. I [wouldn’t] trade that for anything else.

Germany is part of Group B at the 2026 Winter Olympics and will play against Sweden in the preliminary round on Feb. 5.

You can view the full schedule for the Olympics here via the IIHF.