Renata Fast

Renata Fast (born October 6, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a defender for the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and a member of the Canada women's national ice hockey team. She is a two-time Olympic medallist, having won silver at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Fast has won seven medals at the IIHF Women's World Championship, including gold medals in 2021, 2022, and 2024. At the 2024 World Championship, she was named Best Defender and selected to the Media All-Star team.

Fast won the 2024–25 PWHL Defender of the Year Award and was named a finalist for the Billie Jean King Most Valuable Player Award after leading the league in assists (16) and time on ice among defencemen. She was also a two-time PWHL All-Star. Previously, she played for the Toronto Furies of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL), where she was a finalist for Rookie of the Year in 2016–17.

Fast played college ice hockey at Clarkson, where she won the 2014 NCAA National Championship and was named to the Frozen Four All-Tournament Team. She also scored the fastest goal in NCAA Tournament history (10 seconds) in her senior year.

Early life Fast was born in Hamilton, Ontario and raised in nearby Burlington. She is the youngest of four siblings; her sister is Lindsey Fast, and her brothers are Christopher and Gregory Fast. Her parents are Sharon and Douglas Fast. She was a multi-sport athlete growing up, excelling in volleyball, basketball, track and field, snowboarding, soccer, and hockey. As a freshman in 2012–13, Fast appeared in all 38 games and helped the Golden Knights reach the NCAA quarterfinals. She was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team, an honor she would receive in all four years at Clarkson.

In the 2013–14 season, Fast played all 41 games and was instrumental in leading the Golden Knights to their first NCAA Championship, defeating the Minnesota Golden Gophers 5–4 in the title game. The Golden Knights became the first team from outside the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) to win the women's national championship. Fast was named to the Frozen Four All-Tournament Team for her defensive play in the championship run. Clarkson also won the ECAC Hockey regular season title with a 16–2–4 conference record. Fast finished the season with 2 goals and 10 assists while posting a +36 plus/minus rating. The Golden Knights advanced to the Frozen Four, where they were eliminated by Boston College 3–2 in overtime in the semifinal. In her rookie season, she competed in 22 of the Furies' 24 games, recording four goals and five assists for nine points with a plus-5 rating. Toronto faced the top-seeded Calgary Inferno in the semifinals but lost the best-of-three series. Fast was a finalist for the CWHL's Rookie of the Year and was named a 2016–17 CWHL All-Star.

Returning to Toronto for the 2018–19 CWHL season, Fast recorded two goals and six assists in 26 games during the regular season. The Furies clinched the fourth and final playoff spot with a 3–1 victory over the Markham Thunder on February 27, 2019, and faced the first-seeded Calgary Inferno in the semifinals. After Toronto won the opening game 3-1, Calgary responded with consecutive victories to eliminate the Furies from the playoffs. Fast was named to the 2018-19 CWHL All-Star Team.

Over three seasons with Toronto, Fast appeared in 48 regular-season games, recording six goals and 11 assists for 17 points. On May 20, 2019, the group formed the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) as a non-profit organization.

Skating for Team Sonnet (Toronto), Fast participated in the PWHPA's "Dream Gap Tour" exhibition series, including the inaugural Toronto showcase in September 2019 and subsequent events across Canada and the United States.

Fast continued with Team Sonnet through the 2021–22 season and then joined Team Adidas for the 2022–23 season and the final iteration of the Dream Gap Tour. The collective bargaining agreement was ratified in July 2023, paving the way for the PWHL.

Toronto Sceptres (2023–present) Following the launch of the new Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), Fast was one of three players (alongside fellow Canadian Olympians Blayre Turnbull and Sarah Nurse) signed within a pre-draft period to Toronto (later named the Toronto Sceptres) on September 6, 2023, agreeing to a three-year contract. Toronto general manager Gina Kingsbury described the three players as "foundation players" for the franchise, praising Fast for bringing "the whole package" to the organization. Despite taking a 2–0 series lead, Toronto was eliminated after Minnesota won three consecutive games to take the best-of-five series 3–2. Fast was named to the PWHL Second All-Star Team.

In the 2024–25 season, Fast recorded 6 goals and 16 assists for 22 points in 30 games, tying for the league lead in points among defenders. She led the league in assists (16, tied with Sarah Fillier), hits (63), average time on ice (24:39 per game), and cumulative ice time (739:45). and became the first defender to be nominated for the Billie Jean King Most Valuable Player award. Toronto was eliminated by Minnesota in the best-of-five series. During the 2025-26 PWHL season, she missed two games at the beginning of the season with an upper-body injury, and missed three more games in December because of a lower-body injury.

International play

Fast joined the Canada National Women's Development Team in 2014 and won a gold medal with the team at the 2015 Nations Cup. She made her debut with the senior national team at the 2015 4 Nations Cup in Sundsvall, Sweden where Canada won silver. She went on to represent the Canada women's national ice hockey team at the 2016 4 Nations Cup in Finland, winning silver.

World Championships Fast represented Canada at the 2017 IIHF World Championship and helped the team win silver.

On January 11, 2022, Fast was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team. Fast scored her first Olympic goal during Canada's semifinal win over Switzerland. She won a gold medal and led the team in minutes played during the tournament, averaging 21:32 per game.

On January 9, 2026, she was named to Canada's roster to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.

Personal life Fast majored in business at Clarkson.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2017 Canada WC 5 0 0 0 0 2018 Canada OG 5 0 0 0 0 2019 Canada WC 7 0 6 6 4 2021 Canada WC 7 2 3 5 8 2022 Canada OG 7 1 4 5 8 2022 Canada WC 7 0 4 4 4 2023 Canada WC 7 1 4 5 4 2024 Canada WC 7 3 3 6 6 2025 Canada WC 7 0 8 8 4 2026 Canada OG 7 0 4 4 2 Senior totals 66 7 36 43 40

Awards and honours NCAA 2012–2016 – ECAC Hockey All-Academic team 2012–13 – Named twice to ECAC Hockey Weekly Honor Roll 2013–14 – Frozen Four All-Tournament team 2014–15 – First-Team ECAC Hockey All-Star 2015–16 – ECAC Hockey Weekly Honor Roll 2015–16 – Clarkson's Booster Club's Unsung Hero Award 2015–16 – Third-Team ECAC Hockey All-Star 2015–16 – Nominee for ECAC Hockey's Student-Athlete of the Year

CWHL 2016–17 – Finalist for CWHL Rookie of the Year 2016–17 – CWHL All-Star Game 2018–19 – CWHL All-Star Game

PWHL 2023–24 – PWHL Second Team All-Star 2024–25 – PWHL First Team All-Star

Burlington Sport Alliance 2017 – Female Athlete of the Year

IIHF 2015 – Gold medal at the 2015 Nations Cup in FÜSSEN, Germany 2015 – Silver medal at the 2015 4 Nations Cup in Sundsvall, Sweden 2016 – Silver medal at the 2016 4 Nations Cup in Vierumäki, Finland 2017 – Silver medal at the 2017 Nations Cup in FÜSSEN, Germany 2017 – Silver medal at the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championships in Plymouth, Michigan

Olympics 2018 – Silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea 2022 - Gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China