Team USA women’s ice hockey captain Hilary Knight announced her engagement on Wednesday to U.S. women’s speedskater Brittany Bowe as the two compete at this year’s Winter Olympics in Milan.
In a post on Instagram, Knight shared a video of her holding up a joyous Bowe as the speedskater flashed a shiny piece of hardware she didn’t win on the ice: an engagement ring.
“Olympics brought us together. This one made us forever,” wrote Knight, who fell in love with Bowe as they competed for the red, white and blue at the 2022 Beijing Games.
The sweet engagement post is set to the soundtrack of Elderbrook’s “All My Love” and shows Knight getting down on one knee as she pops the question to Bowe.
While Bowe came just short of reaching the podium in both the women’s 1000 meters and team pursuit competitions, her hockey star fiancée has a chance to secure gold for the U.S. in a rivalry showdown against Team Canada on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. ET.
Knight, who is also the captain of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Seattle Torrent, took gold for the States at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Knight has previously revealed that her relationship with Bowe grew from friendly, masked evening walks amid strict COVID-19 policies at the Beijing Games.
In a joint interview with Olympics.com published on Valentine’s Day, Bowe said the two have been “inseparable” ever since while Knight remarked that she “immediately” knew that the speedskater was “the one.”
Gregory Shamus via Getty Images
Knight told NBC last year that the relationship helped her publicly come out as queer, revealing that she was “fearful” and initially believed that it wasn’t her “responsibility” to do so.
“But I also thought, you know what? What an amazing opportunity it was to be able to authentically just show up as myself, as I am, in front of my friends, my small circle, publicly as well,” she said.
The two Olympians, who have indicated that Milan would mark their final Games, purchased a home together in Utah back in 2024.
Other LGBTQ+ athletes on Team USA have also gotten engaged at the Games, Them magazine reported.
U.S. alpine skier Breezy Johnson, who is bisexual and became the first openly queer athlete to medal at the Games when she took gold in the women’s downhill, got engaged to her boyfriend, Connor Watkins, when he popped the question following her crash in the super-G final last week.
