Hilary Knight to End Olympic Career in Gold Medal Game — and Plan a Surprise Proposal
Hilary Knight will take the ice for her final Olympic game as the U. S. women’s hockey team prepares to face Canada in the gold medal matchup, and she has been quietly planning a personal milestone: a proposal to her girlfriend one day before the decisive game. The dual storylines — a farewell on hockey’s biggest stage and a private celebration — have become a defining subplot as the Americans chase gold in Milan.
Hilary Knight's Olympic farewell and on-ice milestones
The U. S. earned its place in the gold medal game by advancing past Sweden with a dominant 5-0 semifinal victory, setting up the headline matchup against Canada. For Knight, who announced that Milan would be her fifth and final Olympics, the game will close an iconic Olympic run. She has reached significant markers during this tournament: in a preliminary-round game against Finland she scored her 14th career Olympic goal on Feb. 7, tying two Americans on the tournament’s all-time scoring list. She is also noted as the highest-scoring player at the Women’s World Championships and played a central role in launching the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
The Americans have been potent across the roster, registering the most goals in the tournament with 31 and riding a record-setting defensive stretch that included a shutout streak of 331 minutes, 23 seconds without allowing a goal since Feb. 5. Young scorers Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards and Hannah Bilka — all players who came up admiring Knight — have paced the attack, amplifying the sense that this roster is both a tribute to and a continuation of Knight’s influence on the sport.
Personal moment: a planned proposal ahead of the final game
Off the ice, Knight has been preparing a surprise that she revealed to a teammate: one day before the gold medal game she plans to propose to her girlfriend, speedskater Brittany Bowe. The couple first met at the 2022 Beijing Olympics when strict pandemic protocols required masks, and Knight chose the Milan Games as the setting to complete that circle. Knight had been carrying the ring for several months and weighed different, more private options before deciding the Games felt right for a full-circle moment.
The planned proposal adds an intimate, human element to Knight’s send-off: teammates have expressed how the possibility of finishing her Olympic career with a gold medal would be a meaningful legacy for the captain who has been described as a talisman and a driving force behind the growth of the women’s game. For Knight, the farewell will blend on-ice accomplishments with a carefully planned personal milestone that underscores how much these Games mean to her both professionally and personally.
As the U. S. and Canada prepare to meet for Olympic gold, the matchup promises to be the final chapter of Knight’s Olympic story and a vivid close to a career that has left an indelible mark on teammates and the next generation of players. Whether the result is a medal or a private celebration, the week will be remembered for both the competitive stakes and the planned proposal that Knight has kept close in the run-up to her last Olympic game.
