CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Following Team USA’s women’s hockey gold medal victory, seasoned player Kendall Coyne Schofield captured the excitement with a simple declaration.
“We did it!” she shouted.
That celebration echoed throughout the American women’s team at the Milan Cortina Games, where female athletes achieved unprecedented success at a Winter Olympics.
In terms of medal achievements, they absolutely delivered – breaking records along the way.
Female competitors from the United States – excluding mixed-gender competitions – entered Saturday’s penultimate day with six gold medals and 15 total medals. The prior Winter Olympics records for American women stood at five golds (achieved in 1992, 2002, and 2018) and 13 medals (reached in 2014 and 2022).
“Our team is so strong,” said Mikaela Shiffrin, who claimed gold in women’s slalom and is considered an Alpine skiing legend. “We have so many incredible athletes and teammates and friends, and everybody just showed up with so much courage and heart here. And I’m so proud to be part of this American team.”
Including mixed competitions, American women earned 19 medals at Milan Cortina. Over 40 female athletes from the United States will return home with at least one medal – establishing another winter milestone for the country. These figures could continue climbing, as additional medal opportunities remained before the Olympic flame is extinguished.
“Team USA is crushing it and it’s friggin’ sweet,” declared Kaillie Humphries Armbruster, an American bobsledder who earned bronze in monobob and was competing for another medal in Saturday evening’s two-woman event. “Women’s hockey got gold, hell yeah. It’s all definitely motivating.”
Inspiration surrounded US women competitors at every turn.
Shiffrin and downhill champion Breezy Johnson claimed Alpine skiing golds, while Elana Meyers Taylor triumphed in monobob. Alysa Liu secured the figure skating women’s singles title (plus another gold in the team competition for both genders), Elizabeth Lemley captured the Olympic crown in freestyle moguls, and the women’s hockey squad mounted a late comeback to force overtime before defeating Canada for their championship. Kaila Kuhn contributed to a gold medal victory in mixed team aerials – marking Team USA’s 11th gold at these Games, the highest total by Americans in Winter Olympics history.
Male competitors from the US have also performed admirably in Italy.
However, American women have been truly record-breaking.
“It’s iconic. It’s legendary,” stated US bobsledder Kaysha Love. “At the end of the day, I think that’s why we do this.”
To be fair, Olympic competition has expanded over the years, providing more opportunities for women to become Olympians. Milan Cortina featured 41 women’s events (not including mixed competitions), compared to 37 at Turin in 2006 and just 12 at Lake Placid in 1980.
Nevertheless, records remain records. This US Olympic women’s delegation, as a collective unit, established a new benchmark.
The 15 medals earned by Americans in women’s competition at Milan Cortina, rising to 19 with mixed events included, would surpass the total medals won by all US athletes – male, female, and mixed – in every Winter Games from 1924 through 1998.
Freestyle skiing contributed four of the 15 women’s medals for Americans at these Games, with Jaelin Kauf earning two of those – both silver medals in moguls.
“There’s an incredibly strong women’s team and moguls program in the US, (which is) exactly why it’s so good,” Kauf explained. “We have become extremely dominant in the last handful of years, continuing to be the best women’s team in the world for four or five years now.”
Obviously, achievement generates more achievement. Just consider Cory Thiesse’s example.
She made history as the first American woman to earn an Olympic curling medal. Thiesse claimed silver in mixed doubles alongside Korey Dropkin, reaching that milestone partly through inspiration from previous champions – whether in curling or other sports.
“I know how important it was for me to have girls to look up to when I was growing up, not only in my own sport but other sports out there winning medals and seeing that on TV and dreaming big because of it,” Thiesse shared on Friday, the day before she and the US women fell to Canada in the bronze-medal contest. “So, I just think it’s great for future generations.”
US men’s hockey coach Mike Sullivan believes the American women who succeeded this year are also laying groundwork for 2030, 2034, and future Olympics.
“What a terrific hockey team and they’ll be an inspiration for the next generation of girls growing up in the United States,” Sullivan commented following the US women’s victory over Canada for hockey gold. “It’s crazy how far women’s hockey has come in the United States, and a lot of it is due to the teams like this and the girls that play on these teams. They inspire the next generation.”
