hilary knight proposes at Milan Cortina Games, engaged to Brittany Bowe
Hilary Knight, a veteran of multiple Olympic podiums, surprised longtime partner Brittany Bowe with a public proposal during the Milan Cortina Winter Games. The moment, captured in a short video the couple shared Wednesday, unfolded with both athletes wearing Team USA gear and teammates and fans cheering in the background.
On-ice celebration turns into a lifetime commitment
The proposal arrived as a striking punctuation to two athletes competing at the highest level. Knight, who is set to play in the women's hockey gold medal game against Canada, got down on one knee and asked Bowe to marry her. Bowe, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist though not a medalist at these Games, accepted, and the pair embraced amid jubilation.
Knight, a four-time Olympic medalist, is guaranteed to return home with at least a fifth Olympic medal following the upcoming final. If the U. S. team wins, it will add a second Olympic gold to her résumé; a loss would still leave her with a fourth silver. Off the scoreboard, she already has one more permanent prize.
A romance forged in Beijing and celebrated in Cortina
The two athletes have been together since meeting at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, when restricted access and quiet moments between competitions allowed them to connect. Knight has spoken fondly of those early days, saying it was a rare opportunity for human connection — long walks and conversations away from the bustle of competition that helped them learn who they were beyond the sport.
Bowe has described how quickly she recognized Knight’s combination of athletic ferocity and private warmth. “Knowing her as a hockey player, it’s like this big, strong, powerful female, ” she reflected. “But then, when we got to know each other, she was soft, genuine, kind, almost shy. That really sparked my interest. ” Those contrasting sides of Knight’s personality are now part of the couple’s public story, one that teammates and fans celebrated enthusiastically.
Teammates and fellow Olympians share the joy
Within hours of the video surfacing, messages of congratulations flooded the comments from fellow Olympians. Bronze medal-winning rugby player Ilona Maher called it “happy days, ” while Knight’s hockey teammate Aerin Frankel reacted with exuberance. Married ice dancers Evan Bates and Madison Chock added their congratulations, and retired skater Adam Rippon chimed in with playful admiration for the casual, sweatpant-clad moment.
The engagement was part of a string of romantic highlights during these Games. Earlier in Cortina, a skier accepted a proposal at the bottom of her super-G run, a moment that also drew widespread attention. In one of the bidder’s touches of pop culture, the ring box for that proposal included engraved lyrics from a popular song about choosing love over trophies, and the singer offered congratulations in the comments thread.
For Knight and Bowe, the public proposal at an Olympics that first brought them together underscores both the intensity of elite sport and the human relationships that grow inside it. As the Games continue and the hockey final approaches, the engagement adds an intimate, celebratory chapter to their athletic legacies.
The couple has not announced wedding plans but will return to a sports world newly celebratory of their next steps together.
