Laila Edwards Becomes 1st Black Woman To Win Gold For US Hockey

The United States is still racking up medals at the Cortina, Italy 2026 Winter Olympics and just added another gold for added bragging rights. And the latest comes from the USA women’s hockey team, which beat Canada 2-1 to win the finals match on Thursday afternoon. 

The win was also history-making for Laila Edwards, who was the first Black woman to be named to the U.S. Olympic hockey team. With the victory, the 22-year-old now becomes the first Black American woman to win gold for hockey.  

Team USA ran through the Olympic competition, starting with the preliminaries against Czechia, Finland, Switzerland, and a 5-0 win against arch-rival Canada. Then in the quarterfinals, they kept it going again, having stellar defense, leaving host country Italy scoreless in their 6-0 bout. 

In the finals, they didn’t have quite the same edge against Canada as they did in the prelims. Kristin O’Neill gave Canada the 1-0 advantage in the second period, and America was still scoreless into the third period. Then, with two minutes left, Captain Hilary Knight made a shot after getting an inadvertent assist from the deflection off of Edwards’ shot.

The contest went into overtime, tied at 1-1, and Megan Keller’s goal clinched the USA’s victory. 

Victory is sweet for the Americans, as it’s their first gold medal since 2018, after losing in the final to rivals Canada in 2022, 2014, and 2010.

Even more heartwarming is that Edwards’ family was able to see her win thanks to a GoFundMe she launched with the Kelce brothers (who are also Cleveland Heights natives), who made the largest contribution to the fund.

“They helped me get here and make this team and achieve my dream, so it means a lot,” she told the AP.

Born in Ohio, Edwards started figure skating at 3 and, by 5, was playing hockey. Around 8, she played on boys’ teams and eventually left for New York’s Bishop Kearney High School to play in its elite girls’ hockey program. 

In 2022, she even missed her high school graduation to compete in that year’s IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship, where she won a silver medal. 

See social media’s reaction to the historic win below.