MILAN — The U.S. women’s national hockey team captured gold over Canada in a dramatic overtime victory at the 2026 Winter Olympics, but that wasn’t the most nerve-racking part of Hilary Knight’s week.
‘I was more nervous for the proposal than I was for the gold medal game’ Knight said Feb. 18 following the gold medal win.
The five-time Olympian proposed to U.S. speed skater Brittany Bowe one day before the U.S. faced Canada in the women’s hockey final. Knight said her plan to propose was making her so anxious that she ultimately decided to pull the trigger because her “legs felt like Jello” throughout the tournament.
So Knight did what any elite athlete would do. She penciled in her proposal on Wednesday before Team USA’s final practice ahead of the gold medal game.
‘Call me crazy, but doing it before a gold medal game, it just seemed fitting for us,” said Knight, whose goal forced overtime on Thursday. ‘I kind of wanted to (propose) and then set my mind and intention for hockey prep. And so just with scheduling and Britt’s schedule, it just made sense to do it that morning.’
Knight didn’t tell anyone of her plans, not even her teammates. She got down on one knee following a morning coffee run, similar to how the two first connected at the 2022 Beijing Games amid COVID-19 protocols. Knight announced the news on Instagram without a second thought, captioning a video of the proposal, ‘Olympics brought us together. This one made us forever.’ She then went back to hockey mode and prepared for practice.
Business as usual, right? Wrong.
‘I was a little naive to just throw the video up on social and put my phone away for practice,’ Knight joked. ‘I thought I could skate on by … I don’t know what I was thinking.’
Well, the engagement announcement quickly went viral and is up to nearly 100K likes, eliciting responses from fellow Olympians like Madison Chock, Elana Meyers Taylor and Ilona Maher. The video also made its way to Knight’s teammates, who found out with the rest of the world. “She didn’t tell us,” added Megan Keller, who scored the game-winner in overtime to win the gold.
They immediately jumped into celebration mode and greeted Knight at practice to the tune of Bruno Mars’ “Marry You.” Her team’s love and support is exactly why Knight opted to propose before the big game on Thursday.
‘I mean to be able to celebrate these different milestones with this group is incredible,’ Knight said. ‘I’ve had a heck of a week personally, so it’s been an incredible ride and I have to soak this all in because this room is just so special. This team is so special. This is the best U.S. hockey team I’ve ever been a part of and that is just so tremendous.’
Bowe was in the Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena to witness Knight’s historic night, where her clutch goal to force overtime broke the U.S. all-time points and goal record. Knight plans to return the favor on Friday when Bowe competes in the women’s 1,500 meters.
“I can’t wait to cheer her on,’ Knight said.
Knight and Bowe first met at the 2022 Beijing Games. The duo often went on fully masked strolls that were cute but not necessarily romantic, Knight recalled. Bowe walked away with bronze in the 1,000 meters in Beijing, but she told People magazine that her time with Knight ‘was the biggest win coming out of Beijing.’
“(It was) a very unique way to meet someone, but it was also kind of cool because we felt like we were in this bubble,’ Bowe said. ‘No outside distractions. And we really had a lot of time just to get to know each other.”
Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at@CydHenderson.