Originally published on 3/19/26

With five Winter Olympic Games under her belt, Hilary Knight is nothing short of a legend. Not only has the ice hockey forward won three silver medals and two gold medals, but she has also appeared on Saturday Night Live and was the first non-goalie female skater to practice with a National Hockey League (NHL) team. Woman’s World recently caught up with Knight to learn more about these accomplishments and discover how she really felt about the whole White House invitation scandal. Read on for more.

Hilary Knight looks back on her Olympic journey

Knight first stepped onto Olympic ice at the 2010 Vancouver Games, launching what would become a legendary career. She went on to compete in four more Winter Olympics—Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022 and Milan-Cortina 2026—experiences that, she says, helped her “grow up.”

“It’s been awesome to learn from such amazing and powerful women. I have three brothers, I never had sisters, and so to immediately get thrown into an environment with 20 plus sisters was just really cool,” the athlete said. “It definitely shaped me as a human. I was able to get an education through this game and travel the world, meet amazing people, and have these amazing experiences and opportunities.”

​Most recently, Knight competed in the 2026 Winter Games. She ended up winning gold, which brought smiles to her and her teammates’ faces.

“We have an incredibly special team, and we really felt like America’s team. It was a really cool experience to be a part of,” Knight said. “Just having an opportunity to share that success and that tangible reward with our respective communities is so important, and it’s fun to be celebrated in that way and have a small impact and positive impact on someone’s life.”

​Hilary Knight opens up about the White House incident

Following the 2026 Winter Games, the men’s hockey team—who also won gold—were invited by President Donald Trump to the White House and the 2026 State of the Union address. The women’s team was also invited—but only after the president made what many considered a dismissive joke, saying he was inviting the women only because the men were coming. 

“I was a little disappointed, to be honest,” Knight tells Woman’s World. “The women were absolutely caring about the Olympics, and then a distasteful joke kind of just became the main conversation. Fortunately, with my platform and the visibility that I have, I had the opportunity to reshift the narrative and put the spotlight back on my amazing teammates and our amazing team.” 

​Hilary Knight talks ‘Saturday Night Live’ 

Knight was invited to appear on Saturday Night Live alongside fellow Olympians Megan Keller and the Hughes brothers, plus Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, stars of the hit hockey-themed series Heated Rivalry. 

“It’s one of those pinch me moments,” the athlete exclaims. “Then, to have Connor as the host, I was, like, ‘Let’s go. This is awesome!’ It was just so special.”

“I’m really grateful for Heated Rivalry, and what that’s doing for conversations surrounding hockey,” Knight continues. “So to have an opportunity to do, one, Saturday Night Live and, two, to do it with Connor and Hudson was so cool.” 

​Hilary Knight reveals what’s next for her 

Sadly, Knight said that she has no plans to attend the 2030 Olympics as an athlete. 

“My teammates are trying to get me to commit to 2030, but as of now this was my last,” she explains. “I feel really fulfilled and really grateful that my dream ended in the way that it did. This is such a special team, and there’s so much that goes into competing in the Olympics and really just embracing the entire journey.”

Even though she won’t be competing, Knight says she still plans on staying in the public eye. She also intends to do some brand deals, including her most recent one with Hershey’s chocolate, which centered around their Happiness is the Real Gold campaign. 

“I  absolutely love candy and chocolate, so there was just a natural alignment there,” Knight said of the partnership.

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/hilary-knight-on-white-house-scandal-hockey-and-snl-exclusive