A surprise national holiday was declared in Latvia after the hockey bronze medal

Monday was a day off in many European countries, but Latvians woke up to find that they too have been granted a last minute day off – thanks to their ice hockey team.

The country won the bronze medal at the World Championships hosted by Finland after defeating the United States.

It’s the country’s first World Cup medal and led to a late-night meeting in parliament to agree a public holiday.

In a ten-minute session from midnight to midnight, MPs unanimously approved the holiday.

The bill’s sponsors said it was intended to “consolidate the significant success of Latvian athletes in the social memory of society.”

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Riga for a last-minute vacation to welcome their hockey hero home.

However, due to the last-minute nature of the holiday, there was some confusion as to who was affected. The exams scheduled for the day continued, but the court sessions were cancelled.

Aigars Rostovskis, president of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told LSM: It will be chaos for many.