The growth of women’s hockey since it was added as an Olympic sport in at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, has been exponential.

That popularity showed up in the ratings for the women’s gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 19. Team USA’s overtime victory against rival Canada was the most-watched women’s hockey game on record, according to NBC. It averaged 5.3 million viewers with an audience peak of 7.7 million viewers in overtime on USA and Peacock.

Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime, marking the Americans’ first Olympic gold medal since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, which they won in a shootout. Team USA trailed much of the game, before Hilary Knight scored an equalizer with less than three minutes remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime.

“There was no way we were losing this game,’ Knight said. ‘That’s all. Simple as that. We had some awesome heavy hitters on the ice. I knew we were going to get possession, so I just had to find a place in front of the net.’

‘When Meg (Keller) pulled her move, I knew we had it immediately,’ Knight said.

Team USA has appeared in all but one gold medal game since 1998 — each time facing off against the Canadians. The Americans now have three golds.

‘The greatest rivalry in all sport for that reason, every game is tight,’ said Canadian defender Renata Fast, who assisted on Canada’s lone goal. ‘We knew that coming in every single battle, every single play is so important because the game is that close against this matchup. So this is the exact game we expected today, and obviously we just didn’t come out the way we wanted to.’

The next generation of the rivalry is in training. Women’s hockey has grown by leaps and bounds since 2000, as one of the fastest-growing youth sports in North America. USA Hockey reports that girls’ and women’s participation has surged 65% over the past 15 seasons.

MILAN — Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” blasted on the speakers at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan ahead of the gold-medal game between the U.S. women’s national hockey team and Canada.

“I got a feelin’ that tonight’s gonna be a good night,” musician Will.i.am sang on the track. The song served as a premonition for what was to come: USA captain Hilary Knight had a good night, indeed.

The five-time Olympian scored a late equalizer to send the game to overtime, where Megan Keller’s sudden-death goal lifted the Americans to the top of the podium for the first time since 2018. Knight’s goal not only kept the Americans’ hopes alive, it also established a new all-time U.S. Olympic record in points (33) and goals (15).

Knight, the first American hockey player, male or female, to win five Olympic medals, announced the 2026 Winter Games would be her last, but the 36-year-old proved her final Olympic lap was far from a swan song.

‘Hilary always goes out with a bang,’ Kendall Coyne Schofield said, referring to Knight’s whirlwind week filled with a marriage proposal to Brittany Bowe and a gold medal. ‘I mean you can’t script it any better.’

Knight is not your typical superstar. She doesn’t like to bask in the limelight and would prefer if it weren’t on her at all. When Knight scored her 14th career Olympic goal in Team USA’s 5-0 win over Finland on Feb. 7, she had ‘no idea’ she tied the U.S. Olympic all-time scoring record held by Natalie Darwitz and Katie King.

While Knight noted it’s ‘super special’ to be mentioned among legendary players like Darwitz and King, she said the goal was no less special than every other she’s scored along the way. And Knight has done plenty of that.

‘I just love scoring and the pure elation of finding the back of the net and putting our team in a better position than we were before,’ added Knight. ‘It’s just a little kid moment. … It’s pure excitement and it’s fun to celebrate.”

Although Knight herself couldn’t care less about adding yet another record to her resume, some began to wonder if she would reach the points and scoring record before her Olympic career ended. Team USA crushed Italy and Sweden in the quarterfinal and semifinals, respectively, but Knight didn’t get on the score sheet in either game.

But leave it to Knight to step up when Team USA needed her most. With their backs against the wall and the clock ticking down on their dreams, Knight tipped in a goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.

When asked what went through her head after scoring, Knight recalled, ‘We’re going to win the game. It was just that simple. Obviously we peppered their goaltender a lot and picked up momentum throughout the game, but you never want to run out of time, especially with a great team. So to find the back of the net, I was like, here we go, this is ours. … It’s a special feeling. It’s a rare feeling, but you get that feeling with this group.’ 

Lee Stecklein said it was the ‘perfect way for her to break (the record).’ Stecklein added, ‘She’s the best player of all time. To score goals like that as consistently as she did… it’s just a classic Hilary Knight.’

It’s also typical Knight fashion to quickly shift the spotlight off her personal accolades onto what matters most: her teammates. That’s what has kept her playing for two decades.

‘I didn’t want to put more pressure on us leading into… this tournament by saying we’re the best hockey team in the world. I truly felt that at every single step,’ Knight said. ‘This was a testament to our preparation and the togetherness and the love and the family environment that we created in that room that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done and do it for one another.’

Knight has influenced an entire generation of players throughout her career, many of whom are now her teammates who will carry on the legacy of the U.S. national team when she’s gone. First-time Olympian Haley Winn recalls taking a photo with Knight in upstate New York at a hockey camp when she was younger.

‘Obviously she’s someone a lot of us have looked up to since we were little,’ said Winn, who scored her first Olympic goal in USA’s win over Switzerland on Feb. 9. ‘I know I have a picture with her from when I was probably seven or eight, so to be able to play on a team with her, obviously it leaves you kind of speechless.’

Winn isn’t the only one. Tessa Janecke, Laila Edwards, Hannah Bilka and Caroline Harvey all idolized Knight in their youth. It was Edwards who assisted Knight’s historic goal on Thursday, alongside Keller.

‘It’s unbelievable. It just seemed to be a very small part of what Hilary’s accomplished,’ Edwards said. ‘I’m so honored and to learn from her every day, it’s just been such a blessing.’

Knight doesn’t have to say too much to lead. Her coaches and teammates describe her as a ‘silent force,’ who leads by example, as cliche as that may sound. ‘Her actions mean everything,’ added Taylor Heise, who said she just likes to sit and observe how Knight operates on a daily basis, ‘as weird as that sounds.’

‘She knows how to bring a group together, like ‘Let’s go and fight and we’re going to go to the end,’ and it’s inspiring to be around. She’s an amazing human being,’ said U.S. women’s hockey coach John Wroblewski, who was brought to tears after the gold-medal win. ‘(Knight) needs her teammates and I think that she’s as cognizant of that as anybody can imagine.’

Knight scored two goals in as many games to open Olympic play. Her first came in the second period of USA’s 5-1 win over Czechia on Feb. 5 to become the third player to score in five different Olympics, joining Canadians Jayna Hefford and Hayley Wickenheiser. Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin later joined the list and surpassed Wickenheiser (18) as the all-time leading women’s Olympic scorer with 20 goals.

Knight again found the back of the net in the second period against Finland on Feb. 7, which was all the more impressive considering the veteran left the ice in the first period with an apparent injury.

Finland forward Ida Kuoppala collided with Knight’s left leg right in front of the U.S. bench as Knight possessed the puck with 4:28 remaining in the first period. Knight’s left leg buckled and she immediately fell down to the ice, where she withered in pain. She went right off the ice and didn’t return with the starting line the remainder of the first period as she received medical attention on the bench.

‘When we saw her kind of roll over and got hurt a little bit, (it) almost brought me to tears on the bench,’ Heise recalled. ‘(Knight) is such a resilient player and she worked so hard and you could see her when she got in the locker room, it didn’t phase her. Straight to the trainer and did what she needed to do and figured it out.’

Knight recorded two assists in USA’s 5-0 shutout of Switzerland on Feb. 9, in addition to an assist in the team’s 5-0 win over Canada on Feb. 10. She finished with six points in the tournament.

‘She’s the best player in the world,’ Heise added.

Her performance was so good that many questioned whether Knight should retire or run it back.

Heise said she’s ‘never going to count (Knight) out,’ while Coyne Schofield added, ‘I don’t put anything past Hilary Knight. Whatever goals in her head, she’s going to accomplish it.’

She accomplished her goal of winning a gold medal and even dished out a silver engagement ring to her fiancée, U.S. speed skater Brittany Bowe, all in the span of 48 hours.

‘This is my last Games and I’ve had a heck of a week personally, so it’s been an incredible ride and I have to soak this all in because this room is just so special,’ Knight said. ‘This team is so special. This is the best U.S. hockey team I’ve ever been a part of and that is just so tremendous.’

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LIVIGNO, Italy – Alex Ferreira stood at the top of the halfpipe and repeated the incantation he’d come to rely upon.

I am greatness.

This is my moment.

And I can feel it in my bone marrow.

Five tremendous jumps above the 22-foot-walls later, Ferreira had achieved greatness. Indeed, it was his moment. And now, down to his bone marrow, he is an Olympic gold medalist.

Ferreira, 31, won the men’s free ski halfpipe competition with an electrifying third run to add to his medal total, which included a silver (2018 PyeongChang) and bronze (2022 Beijing). All that was missing was gold, and he entered the 2026 Winter Games determined to “complete the set,” he said.

In October, he told USA TODAY Sports he keeps his medals above his bed to remind himself that hard work enables success. Gold will be quite the addition to the collection.

‘It’s way different,’ Ferreira said. ‘There’s nothing like gold.

“It’s a hundred times better than I ever thought it would be. It’s the most beautiful moment I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’m so insanely grateful.”

It goes to show, Ferreira said, to never stop believing in yourself. Ferreira’s sister, Lourdes, said this performance was a “thank you” to those who supported him throughout his career.

“And just (expletive) go for it,” said Lourdes, who is eight years Alex’s junior, “this is what he was here for, to say it very kindly.”

Because of the clarity her brother possessed entering the competition, which had the quirk of qualifying in the morning and finals at night because of bad weather affecting the schedule here, was the least nervous he’s ever been before an Olympic final.

That’s good, Ferreira said, because prior to that moment, it was the worst day of his life. He awoke with a pounding headache and took Tylenol.

‘You never know what the end of a day can bring,’ he said.

Ferreira wasn’t pleased that qualifying and finals were in the same day, but there was going to be a competition no matter what, so he might as well leave it all out there.

“It’s (indescribable), because we’ve been working very hard for the last three Olympics,” a hoarse and breathless Marcello Ferreira, Alex’s father and a former professional soccer player from Argentina, said. “So now he has the full cycle.”

Like many of the 12 skiers during the first run of finals, Ferreira struggled. He ended the round in third, but with a low score. Ferreira showed why he was the favorite coming into this contest with a 90.50 on the second run. Estonia’s Henry Sildaru threw up a 92.75 after that to push him down to second heading into the final run.

Ferreira steeled himself and dropped in. He went switch-right double-cork 1080 Japan, “pretty big,” he said, leftside double-cork 1620 safety, rightside double chuck, 1080 Japan, switch leftside Japan and finished with a rightside double 1620 safety. He knew it was the run he’d spent his entire life building toward and celebrated with his patented “pole lasso” move.

The score came in: 93.50. The contingent of Ferreira supporters in the first row at Livigno Snow Park combusted. Screams. Tears. Hugs.

Ferreira is even more interesting outside of skiing, a beautiful person, she said.

“He’s smart. He’s kind. He’s funny. But most of all, he’s driven,” said his girlfriend, Deirdre Heggerty. “And he did it really beautifully today.”

Then the “living nightmare” of waiting began, with three competitors to go.  

“I hated every second of it,” he said.

Ferreira could hardly watch and bit his knuckle as Sildaru’s final score was posted — 93 flat.

Earlier, his friend and teammate Nick Goepper, at the time in third, suffered a brutal crash on his final jump of a run that might have secured a medal in his Olympic halfpipe debut.

Canada’s Brendan Mackay, the final competitor and top qualifier, had a tremendous final run and ultimately finished with the bronze medal. Ferreira thought the golden dream was dead. But the judges didn’t agree, and when Mackay’s score went up on the board, 91, the celebration for the Ferreira clan was officially on.

The other podiums he’s earned throughout his career, the X Games wins and other accolades, are validating, but the Olympic gold medal solidifies a career, Ferreira said.

“And I don’t just say that about myself,” he said before rattling off a list of other greats, such as David Wise, who won the first two halfpipe free ski golds in 2014 and 2018.

‘It’s just, I guess, the extra, last little tick,” Ferreira added.

Both arms raised, Ferreira took that lunge to the top step of the podium with pride, shook fellow medalists’ hands, threw arms up in the air again, then put his hands on his head in disbelief. He hugged the International Olympic Committee who gave him the gold he desperately desired. His group of friends started singing the “Star Spangled Banner” halfway through the instrumental playing.

About three years ago, Ferreira completely rededicated himself to training and cut out the partying.

“Just sheer hard work and consistency,” Ferreira said. “Just absolutely going for it every single day. Our sport is really scary and you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone.”

For a long time, people didn’t consider Ferreira a champion. He felt overlooked. He made it personal.

Nobody treated him like a professional. So he started treating himself that way. The respect followed.

“Now I’m an Olympic gold-medalist,” said the kid who grew up in Aspen, Colorado and would sneak out of school with friends to watch the world’s best freestyle skiers practice.

Ferreira won all seven of his competitions that season (2023-24). His mom — not meaning it nefariously — said something along the lines of how convenient it’d be if the Olympics were that year.

“I was thinking I definitely peaked too early,” Ferreira said.

He also felt the pressure from Marcello, who “basically, he says all the time, you have to win the gold medal.”  

“This is the most beautiful closing of a career,” Marcello said, “of a real champion.”

Ferreira doesn’t know if this is actually it, though, and wouldn’t commit one way or another to whether this was the end of the line.

‘It’s gonna be hard not to compete with these guys,” he said gesturing to the medalists on either side at the dais. ‘It’s been my life for the past 20 years. So, I would like to.”

Ferreira admitted to suffering from post-Olympic blues but has set his life up differently — he’s in control of himself now, he said, and thinks it will be the best time of his life.

And if it is indeed the end for Ferreira, what a way to go out.

USA TODAY Sports reporter Gentry Estes contributed to this report.

MILAN — With the two gold medals around her neck, Alysa Liu looks comfortable being an Olympic champion figure skater. She sounds less comfortable about something else.

‘I don’t know if I really want to be a role model, I would say,’ Liu remarked during a small group interview that included USA TODAY Sports. ‘But I guess I am. So if anything, I just urge people to spend time with themselves, try new things, different things, just to gain experience and then decide for themselves what they want to do.

‘Taking breaks is OK, and yeah, sometimes taking a step back is what’s needed to see the full picture.’

Liu famously ‘retired’ from skating at 16 and made a comeback after a two-year hiatus.

‘Just doing me’

Liu has captured global attention not just for her exceptional skating, but her sense of style, which includes platinum stripes in her dark hair and a ‘smiley’ piercing on her frenulum.

Might young girls start to mimic her style?

‘I am just doing me,’ Liu said, ‘so it’s cool if I’m inspiring any other people. Yeah, I just have a certain fashion sense and kind of stubborn with it, so it’ll always come through.”

How long will Liu skate?

She already ‘retired’ from skating at 16. Then unretired at 20.

Now that Liu is 20, does she think she’s going to keep skating for the next few years, or will she take another break?

‘Well, I can’t imagine not skating next year,’ Liu said. ‘That’s what I’ll say.’

Getting to the bottom of it

During her hiatus from skating, Liu spent a year at UCLA and said she enjoyed studying psychology. But a career in psychology does not appear to be in her future.

“Not anymore, but I am really interested in psychology,’ she said. ‘I think it was because I was interested in myself and how I thought, especially because my childhood growing up. It was so different from most, so I just really wanted to get to the bottom of it, if that makes sense.

“And so, yeah, I’ve done a lot of internalized thinking. Introspective is the word I think I’m looking for. But, yeah, it’s helped me a lot and yeah, I love learning.’

And now that Liu has solved the mysteries of her brain —

‘I don’t know if I’ve fully solved it,’ she said. “I guess that’s the goal, but I think there’s something also beautiful about it being a mystery.’

Angel Reese came back to Unrivaled, at least in part, to help defending champ Rose BC make a push to the playoffs.

While Reese scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a productive 10 minutes, Rose lost, 80-78, in her return to Hive BC on Friday night at Sephora Arena in Miami. Rose is now 5-7 and in fifth place in the standings with two regular-season games to go. The top six teams will make the postseason.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points and hit the game-winning layup for Hive in a game which included 19 lead changes and 16 ties. Azurá Stevens, who the Rose traded away to make room for Reese, added 20 points and eight rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench.

Reese joining Rose is made possible by a recent three-way trade, the second in league history. The trade sent Vinyl BC guard Courtney Williams to Breeze BC, Hive BC guard Saniya Rivers to Vinyl and Rose forward Stevens to Hive.

Rose guard Kahleah Copper had been begging Reese to return to Unrivaled on social media all season. Under a recent TikTok video of Reese unboxing items she bought while traveling in Australia, Copper said, ‘You unboxing [expletive], like bring your ass to Miami.’ She later added, ‘Inbox this Rose jersey.’

Cooper scored a game-high 29 points for the Rose on Friday. Shakira Austin added 17 points and nine rebounds.

Reese was named Defensive Player of the Year and made Unrivaled history with the league’s first 20-20 game last season. 

‘Angel [Reese], she’s, obviously, a young player, a really well-known player and someone who did really well last year. Her team won.’ Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier said ahead of Reese’s return. ‘To have her back on the Rose is awesome.

‘She’s just been such a huge addition to Unrivaled, and so, even though it’s only the end of the season, we’re happy to have her.’