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Hilary Knight revealed on Monday that she led the US women’s ice hockey team to gold at last month’s Olympics while suffering from a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL) in one of her knees.
“I’m not walking around the best, and I’m missing a few games for the [PWHL’s] Seattle Torrent,” Knight said on CBS Mornings. “To be able to play through injury was definitely a mental sort of gymnastic challenge for myself and also physical, but we’ve got some amazing support staff that did their best to get me out there and perform at my best – as best as I could.”
The 36-year-old tied the final against Canada with just over two minutes left in regulation before Megan Keller’s goal clinched gold for the US in overtime. Knight, teammate Kendall Coyne Schofield and Canada’s Erin Ambrose were all put on long-term injured reserve by their respective PWHL teams when they returned from Milan.
Knight had previously said she does not intend to play in the Olympics again. She said on Monday that she is “certainly capable” of playing at the 2030 Winter Games, but added: “I think this is … we are just processing this amazing storybook, so to speak, ending for myself.”
She added that she had been cheered by the support she and her teammates had received from fans.
“To double down and have people support us, you know, when we returned back from that journey was incredible. So, we’re just excited to share that with our respective communities and continue to do our thing and be awesome representatives and be great humans,” she said.
Knight and US men’s gold medal-winning players Jack and Quinn Hughes are set to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday night. Their appearance comes 48 hours since their cameo alongside Keller on Saturday Night Live, in which Knight poked fun at Donald Trump.
The United States’ gold was Knight’s second at the Olympics, repeating the one she won with the US in 2018. She also has three Olympic silver medals.
Jack Hughes repeated Keller’s feat by scoring in overtime in the men’s final to clinch gold over Canada. The men’s gold medal is the country’s first since the 1980 Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid.
Knight is not the only US star to compete on torn knee ligaments at this year’s Olympics. Skier Lindsey Vonn tore her ACL a week before the women’s downhill but crashed out early in her Olympic run.
