Women's Health March 5, 2026 0 Comments

Inside the Grit: How Hilary Knight Defied a Career-Threatening Injury to Dominate the Olympic Ice

Ever wonder what it’s like to juggle heartbreak and triumph while skating circles around the competition? Well, Hilary Knight sure makes it look easy — but trust me, it’s anything but. This hockey powerhouse had a whirlwind of a month: popping the question to her speed-skating love Brittany Bowe right in the heat of the Olympic Winter Games in Italy (yes, she said yes!)—and then flipping the script by snagging gold for Team USA in a nail-biting overtime win against Canada. Oh, and did I mention she kept an MCL injury hush-hush while doing all this? Talk about playing tough both on and off the ice. From dominating the rink with the Seattle Torrent to fangirling over fictional hockey stars backstage at SNL, Hilary’s story is packed with grit, glam, and straight-up inspiration. Ready to dive into the hustle, heart, and hustle again? You’re in the right place. LEARN MORE

5 min read

Hockey star Hilary Knight is having the best month ever. On February 18, while in Italy for the Olympic Winter Games, the Team USA women’s hockey captain proposed to long-time girlfriend, speed skater Brittany Bowe, who was also competing in Milano Cortina. (She said yes!).

Then, the very next day, Hilary and Team USA took home a gold medal, defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime. And, on February 28, Hilary, alongside teammate Megan Keller, met the hottest fictional hockey players to ever grace the ice, Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander (a.k.a. Heated Rivalry actors Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams), when they made a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live.

With Hilary’s name on everyone’s lips, it seemed only fitting to welcome the Seattle Torrent captain as the very first guest on The Huddle, the Women’s Health podcast where we talk sports, sweat, and everything in between. In conversation with WH editors Abigail Cuffey, Amanda Lucci, and Jacqueline Andriakos, Hilary talks all about playing at the Olympics while injured, helping raise the profile of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), fangirling over Connor and Hudson, and using caffeine to boost her performance.

Playing Injured

Fans were stunned to learn this week that Hilary kept a big secret throughout most of the Olympic Games. (And, no, we’re not talking about that engagement!) The 36-year-old injured her knee during Team USA’s second game, and Hilary continued to play while nursing a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL). She tells WH she had very good reason for keeping the tear under wraps—figuratively and literally.

“I didn’t want it to be a storyline in our room—I didn’t want it to detract from anything that we were doing as a team or as individuals,” she says. “And, also, I wanted to show up and play and not get targeted. I wanted to make it through the whole tournament and contribute as best I could as part of Team USA.”

In order to make it through the tournament, Hilary spent a lot of quality time with support staff, treating her knee.

“I was in the med room [as] a table camper for, like, three or four hours daily, just to get back to a level where I could compete the next day or the next game,” she says. “Mentally, it was challenging, right? Because you’re on the biggest stage, there’s a lot of pressure. There’s records you want to break, there’s gold medals you want to win.”

In the end, it worked out for Hilary, as she led Team USA to another title—bringing her Olympics medal count to two gold and three silver. But, the injury does mean she’ll have to sit out some Seattle Torrent games for the time being.

“I’m bummed that I’m missing the first few games, and I’m really excited to rejoin them and get back to work,” she says.

Cultivating Hockey Culture

After two seasons with the Boston Fleet, Hilary signed on as the first member of the PWHL expansion team, the Seattle Torrent, in 2025. In addition to her role as captain, Hilary has played a big part in growing the hockey culture in Seattle.

“It’s really cool to be able to build out hockey there,” she says of her new home base. “Now we just need championships.”

If trophies were based on fan engagement alone, you’d better believe Seattle would already have one. “Even before we started the season, I’m at a Target shopping for essentials I need in the house, and someone’s coming up to me like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so glad you guys are here!’ And I was like, Wait, what? Like, what’s happening? It just goes to show the excitement and the pure joy and the genuine connection people have with our club,” Hilary says.

It’s probably safe to assume that Seattle gained at least one new fan over the weekend, as Hilary gifted a personalized Torrent jersey to Hudson Williams backstage at SNL.

“I don’t really, like, fangirl very much, but the whole time I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Like, there’s Hudson, there’s Connor. Like, this is insane.’ It was just so cool,” she says, adding that she’s optimistic about the effect Heated Rivalry could have on hockey fandom.

“When you have a work like Heated Rivalry that shines an additional lens on the sport that you already love, that also champions the queer community, it just feels like everything’s aligning,” she says.

Getting Ready on Game Day

When it comes to game day rituals, Hilary likes to be consistent. In fact, she’s had the same pump-up playlist for about a decade, and only listens to it while getting in the headspace needed to hit the ice. (Though she says the particulars of that playlist are hush-hush, she did reveal that it includes rap, hip-hop, and dance—as well as a few SoundCloud rips.)

Hilary’s pre-game beverage of choice is a Red Bull, and she often pairs it with an afternoon nap—a hack you may have heard of called a “coffee nap.” Essentially, the effects of caffeine take a bit to kick in, so if you down a beverage and immediately take a quick snooze, you should wake up in time for the kick to be kicking in.

The rest of Hilary’s game day prep is also decidedly mellow. “I don’t like to pre-game skate, and so I like to just wake up, go for a morning walk, maybe some stretches, here or there, and then just chill for the rest of the day,” she says. “I don’t really turn the body on until we get over to the rink.” And then? Well, you just better watch out for #21!

To hear more from Hilary on her approach to being a team captain, how that proposal to Brittany really went down, and her thoughts about playing in Madison Square Garden next month, click play on the episode of The Huddle above.

The Huddle by Women’s Health
Hosted by: Abigail Cuffey @alcuffey, Amanda Lucci @alucci, Jacqueline Andriakos @jandriakos
Director / Executive Producer: Dorenna Newton @dorennanew
Director of Photography: Derrick St Pierre @toasttolife
Director of Photography: Romy Kirchauer @romy_rainer
Sound Engineer: Walter Garay @walterandres
Associate Producer: Janie Booth

On-set chairs provided by AllModern
On-set lights from Harlowe @harlowecreators

Amy Wilkinson is a contributing entertainment editor at Women’s Health, where she edits the magazine’s celebrity cover stories and writes health features. She has previously held editor titles at Entertainment Weekly and MTV News. In 2021, Amy completed her 600-hour teacher-training at Core Pilates NYC to become a comprehensively trained Pilates instructor.