MILAN — U.S. women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight is going for gold as the Americans prepare to face off against Canada on Thursday, but that’s not the only bling being dished out in Milan.
Knight proposed to U.S. speed-skater Brittany Bowe on Wednesday, Feb. 18, as both athletes compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics. It marks a full circle moment for the couple, who first met at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
‘Olympics brought us together. This one made us forever,’ Knight captioned an Instagram video of the proposal.
Knight and Bowe first connected at the Beijing Games amid strict COVID-19 protocols. The duo often went on fully masked strolls that were cute, but not necessarily romantic, Knight recalled. Bowe walked away with bronze in the 1000m in Beijing, but she told People 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.”
Knight and Bowe started dating in December 2022. Their relationship helped Knight find the strength to publicly come out a year later in 2023. Knight said they understand each other on a different level as two elite athletes with prolonged careers. Milano Cortina marks Knight’s fifth Games and Bowe’s fourth.
‘We have normal human conversations and then we have Olympic athlete conversations about tactical and technical parts of our training,’ Knight said at the USOPC media summit in October. ‘(Bowe’s) so intentional and thoughtful with preparation and it’s something that I hope that’s rubbed off on me in the right way. But it’s really incredible when you put two different sports side by side and see how they’re similar and how they’re different as well.’
There’s another ‘awesome’ perk of dating a fellow athlete – watching sports all day long. ‘Whether it’s playoffs, regular season, we’re watching everything sports 24/7,’ Knight joked.
The 2026 Winter Olympic will mark the last Games for both Knight and Bowe. Bowe fell short of the podium with fourth-place finishes in both the women’s 1,000 meters and the women’s team pursuit. But Bowe will have another chance to medal on Friday in the women’s 1500m, a distance she previously held the world record in.
‘I gave it my best effort and left it all out there,’ Bowe said after the 1,000m race. ‘Obviously, tough finishing in what most would think is the hardest position in the Olympic games in fourth place. In the same breath, just such an honor to be able to be out there and my name continuing to be in that very elite pack of ladies.’
Meanwhile, Knight will lead Team USA in a gold-medal match against Canada on Thursday. Knight is one point and one goal away from setting an all-time U.S. Olympic hockey record.
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