Five-time Olympic ice hockey player Hilary Knight is the captain of Team USA this year. – Photo: Hilary-Knight.com
At least three players on the U.S. women’s hockey team set to compete at next month’s Winter Olympics in northern Italy are LGBTQ, according to the LGBTQ sports website Outsports.
Hilary Knight, a 36-year-old forward and four-time Olympic medalist, is the team’s captain. Her medals include gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Games and silver in 2010, 2014, and 2022.
Knight also captains the Seattle Torrent in the Professional Women’s Hockey League and will become the first U.S. hockey player to compete in five Olympic Games. She previously captained the U.S. Women’s National Team at the 2024 World Championships.
She officially came out as LGBTQ a few months after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, telling The Athletic that she felt the “overarching” nature of the term “queer” best described her sexual orientation.
Knight is currently dating two-time Olympic bronze medalist and U.S. speed skater Brittany Bowe, who qualified for the Olympics in the 1500- and 1000-meter long-track speed skating events. The couple lives in Salt Lake City.
Two other known LGBTQ members of the 23-player U.S. hockey team for the Milano Cortina Games are forward Alex Carpenter, 31, and defender Cayla Barnes, 27. Both also play for the Seattle Torrent in the PWHL.
Carpenter, a veteran of the silver medal-winning hockey teams at the 2010 Sochi and 2022 Beijing Games, is married to Steph Klein, a former goaltender who now works as an assistant equipment manager for the Toronto Marlies. The couple wed in Hawaii in 2023.
Barnes, who was the youngest player on the gold medal-winning hockey squad at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, has been dating her girlfriend, Hope Walinski, the goaltender for the Providence College women’s hockey team, for about three years.
Speaking to NBC last summer, Knight reflected on the significance of being an out athlete and the importance of visibility for queer athletes who may not otherwise see themselves represented in professional sports.
“I think it’s awesome that we have these great feats on ice and that also brings visibility and more storytelling to the space that is underrepresented in many ways,” she said.
She also reflected on her relationship with Bowe, whom she credits with helping her come out, and on the historical significance of two out female Olympians being in a relationship. She told NBC that she hopes “our story can have a small impact on someone in a positive way.”
The U.S. women’s hockey team, considered one of the favorites for gold at the upcoming Milano Cortina Games, will open the Olympic tournament on February 5 against Czechia. Team USA will play four group-stage games before advancing to the quarterfinals, with the final and all medal-round games set for February 19.
Grindr will disable its location feature and roll out additional privacy protections for users staying at the Olympic Village during the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
The company announced the stepped-up security measures on its blog, saying the changes are intended to protect LGBTQ athletes -- particularly those from countries where homosexuality is criminalized or punishable by death -- from what it described as "real safety risks."
"Grindr shows users who's nearby and how far away they are," the blog post read. "In most contexts, that's useful. In the Olympic Village where thousands of athletes are packed into a small area, those same features may become a liability.
At least 44 out LGBTQ athletes will compete at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, setting a record for a Winter Games, according to the LGBTQ sports news site Outsports.
The Games, which officially kick off on Friday, February 6, will feature 34 out women and 10 out men -- a roughly 7-to-2 ratio that is significantly lower than the 9-to-1 ratio seen at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
According to Outsports, the lower ratio reflects the fact that the Winter Olympics feature fewer team sports, where out female athletes are more common. In Milan, 22 of the 34 out women are ice hockey players, making hockey the sport with the largest LGBTQ presence.
USA Hockey has quietly adopted a new policy barring transgender athletes from participating in single-sex programs that do not align with their assigned sex at birth.
On November 15, 2025, the organization approved a participant eligibility policy requiring that in any programs restricted by sex -- including adult recreational "beer" leagues -- athletes may only compete against others of the same biological sex, according to The Athletic.
Under the policy, transgender men who have undergone hormone therapy are barred from competing in both men’s leagues and women’s leagues at the high school or adult levels.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.