Let’s be crystal clear about one thing: women’s sports aren’t the punchline of the 2026 Winter Olympics; they’re the headline.
At the Milan Cortina Winter Games, the women of Team USA didn’t just show up. They delivered. When it comes to total medals won, Team USA’s women took home 17 individual medals from Milan Cortina, while their male counterparts took home 12. As for gold medals, Team USA’s women won 67% of the country’s gold medals, all while making up just 47% of the total roster of athletes. ㅤ
Doing more with less; something that’s all too familiar in women’s sports.
Yet, even after extraordinary performances, the tone surrounding women’s victories often felt familiar: muted, dismissive, and framed as secondary.ㅤ
Nowhere was that clearer than in hockey.
Jodi Bondi Norgaard, a contributing writer for Ms. Magazine and author of “More Than A Doll” said it best when she wrote:
“Both the U.S. men’s and women’s teams had delivered extraordinary victories against a fierce rival. Both performances electrified fans and showcased the highest level of international competition. Yet the reactions surrounding those wins exposed something familiar: Women’s achievements are still too often treated as secondary, inconvenient or worthy of acknowledgment only as an obligation.”
The historical context makes this moment even more disconcerting.
Look at the history of the men’s & women’s U.S. hockey teams in the Olympics; both have a long history of excellence. However, it’s important to note that by the numbers, the women’s achievements have been accomplished in a fraction of the time with far less resources.
The U.S. women’s hockey team has medaled in every Olympics since the sport debuted at the Winter Games in 1998. In 2026, they captured their third Gold medal. ㅤ
The men’s team also has three Olympic Gold medals, but here’s the key difference: women’s hockey has only been an Olympic sport for 28 years.
Men’s hockey has been part of the Winter Games since 1924 — meaning, it took the men’s team 102 years to achieve the same goal of winning three gold medals. The women achieved the same outcome with 74 fewer years of opportunity, dramatically less funding, weaker infrastructure, and significantly fewer professional pathways.
For years, many women players have even had to work second jobs because their professional salaries weren’t enough to live on. And while the launch of the Professional Women’s Hockey League in 2024 brought long-overdue stability and investment to the sport, the league is still in start-up mode. (For context, the average PWHL salary sits around $58,000 per year, compared to an average NHL salary of roughly $3.5M.)
Still, despite all of the barriers, there’s no denying the results driven by the U.S. women’s hockey team – both on and off the ice. Not only did the women take home Gold this year at Milan Cortina, but everyone watched. The women’s Gold medal game peaked at 7.7M viewers in the U.S., making it the most-watched women’s hockey game in history. (For context, the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Final averaged just 2.5M U.S. viewers.)
What Team USA’s women have accomplished with limited investment is nothing short of remarkable – but imagine what would be possible if women’s hockey were funded, covered, marketed, and supported at the same level as the men’s game.
And yet, disrespect of women athletes persists. Women can earn the same medal as men and still be laughed at, still be questioned, and still be treated as if their excellence is “less” than that of their male counterparts.
But here’s the thing: the scoreboard doesn’t lie, and the medal count doesn’t bend to bias. By the numbers, women won the Olympics, and the U.S. women’s hockey team deserves its flowers.
Anyone who can’t see or appreciate that is simply ignoring the facts.
MEET CAROLINE FITZGERALD
Caroline Fitzgerald is a contributing writer for TOGETHXR.com and a leading expert in women’s sports business and gender equity. A Sports Business Journal "2024 Power Player in Women's Sports," she covers the forces shaping the industry’s next era of growth.
