Hilary Knight was more nervous proposing to her girlfriend than she was playing gold medal game

MILAN — United States captain Hilary Knight kept her cool to lead her side past Canada in the Olympic women’s ice hockey final, and then admitted she was more nervous about getting down on one knee than about the gold medal showdown.

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Knight, like her partner, the U.S. speedskater Brittany Bowe, is appearing in her last Games, and went out on a high as the Americans took the title from their biggest rivals on Thursday.

The U.S. beat the Canadians with a 2-1 overtime win after the captain equalized with just over two minutes left.

Gold medalist Hilary Knight #21 of Team USA waves to fans following the medal ceremony for Women’s Ice Hockey at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Thursday.Andreas Rentz / Getty Images

The day before the final, Knight posted her marriage proposal video on social media, having had that moment hanging over her since the start of the Games.

“I think I was more nervous for the proposal than I was for the gold medal game to be honest, and my legs felt like jello,” Knight told reporters after the final.

“I was kind of carrying that for the whole tournament, I was like, ‘I just need to get this over with,’ and I looked at the calendar and thought, ‘well, once we win this game we’re not going to have much time.’”

Knight and Bowe met at the Beijing 2022 Games, a major reason behind her decision to pop the question at Milano Cortina.

“Call me crazy, but doing it before the gold medal game it just seemed fitting for us, we found one another through the Olympics and it was just really special.

“To cap it all off with the gold medal is awesome and I can’t wait to cheer her on for the 1,500 meters.”

Knight will be at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium on Friday as two-time bronze medallist Bowe bids to end her Olympic career with a medal in the women’s 1,500-meters, having finished fourth in the 1,000-meters and team pursuit.