Team USA Women’s Hockey is the Olympics Champion for the third time ever.
The significance isn’t lost on Williamsville native Hayley Scamurra, who also has a silver medal with the team from 2022 in Beijing. The experience isn’t just about winning another gold for her country but also representing women’s hockey on a global stage, she said.
“It's more eyeballs on the game. And I think this was, like one of the best, like, fastest, most skilled, most, you know, physical, whatever you want to say, like, tournament that we've ever had, . And I think it brings more attention to women talking and what people enjoy about it.”
This year’s Olympics also demonstrates the dominance of US women’s sports, Scamurra added.
"It just shows how far women's sports have come, in general, that ... we had the majority of the gold medals, and just the medal count in general," she said. "Which I think was huge, and women's sports is here to stay."
American athletes won 12 gold medals this year, a Winter Olympics record for the country, and 33 medals overall. Women’s sports accounted for 17 medals and four in mixed events, including a majority of the country’s gold medals.
It’s an honor for the hockey team to be invited to the State of the Union as President Donald Trump’s guest, Scamurra adds, though the Professional Women’s Hockey League schedule means she has to be back with her team instead.
"I really wanted to be back and with my team and, kind of, get ready for the next step," she said. "And then honestly, the outpouring of support and love we've received since all of the White House stuff has grown exponentially, so I think it's really put women's sports and women's hockey even more so on the map."
