US Olympic women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight has described former President Donald Trump’s White House invitation as a “distasteful joke,” highlighting concerns that political theatrics are overshadowing the historic accomplishments of the team at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
The controversy erupted after Trump called in to congratulate the men’s team following their 2-1 overtime gold medal victory against Canada, joking that failing to invite the women’s team could lead to impeachment—a comment met with laughter from men’s team players in the locker room.
Knight, a five-time Olympic medalist who scored the late game-tying goal in the women’s final, emphasized in an interview with ESPN that the attention on the political angle has detracted from the team’s achievements.
“The controversy surrounding Trump’s invite is overshadowing a lot of the success… of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold-medal feats,” Knight said.
The women’s team declined the invitation to the State of the Union due to prior academic and professional commitments, while rapper Flavor Flav extended a separate celebratory invitation to Las Vegas via social media, offering a more inclusive platform for the team to honor their victory.
Despite tensions, Knight praised the men’s team, noting the laughter in the locker room was a “quick lapse” and expressing pride in their accomplishment. Jeremy Swayman, Team USA and Boston Bruins goalie, also acknowledged that the men’s team respected and celebrated the women’s historic win.
Jack Hughes, who scored the overtime goal to secure the men’s gold, echoed similar sentiments, describing the recent attention as secondary to the excitement of Olympic success. “We’re just hockey players… we did our job. We went over to the Olympics to win a gold medal and that’s what we did,” Hughes said.
Knight further stressed that the episode serves as a reminder to elevate women’s achievements in sports and beyond, noting that her record-breaking goal in the Olympic final cemented her status as the all-time Olympic goals and points leader for US women’s hockey.
She is scheduled to return to the ice with her professional team, the Seattle Torrent of the PWHL, on Friday, ready to continue building on her legacy.
