At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, the United States won a record breaking 12 gold medals, the most the nation has ever achieved at any single Winter Games. In the end, they finished out strong with a total of 33 medals (12 gold, 12 silver, 9 bronze). Contributors to the gold medal count include both the men’s and women’s hockey team. However, following the success of both teams, the women felt a loss that the men did not.
On Feb. 22, just days after the U.S. women’s team won the gold medal, the U.S. men’s hockey team beat Canada winning another American gold. Following the wins, some video footage pictured the men’s team in their locker room with Kash Patel, director of the FBI, on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump where they were seen celebrating and making jokes that are now being labeled as distasteful.
After the win, President Trump invited the men’s team to the White House to celebrate their victory, followed by a less than enthusiastic remark that he better invite the gold-winning women’s hockey team as well or “I do believe I would probably be impeached.” The men in the locker room can be seen laughing at the sexist remark.
Some people have been questioning why the men on the hockey team received so much backlash and hate over the dismissive remarks about the women’s team. Some have even been wondering what was wrong with the joke in the first place. Part of the outrage comes from the suggestion that the women’s team did not accomplish as much as the men’s team, that their win was not worth the celebration or acknowledgement. The women’s accomplishment earlier in the week was felt as a second thought in comparison to the men’s.
While some may not have found the snub itself to be surprising, the reaction by the team was shocking and disappointing to many. The laughter rather than silence or accountability only contributed to the sexist environment surrounding women in sports. Just as many women believed that their talents, capabilities and accomplishments were starting to be taken seriously, all of that got downplayed by men on the same international stage.
To add salt to the wound, men’s player Jack Hughes’ mother, Ellen Hughes, was a pioneer for women’s hockey. She was a hockey player and worked on the women’s Olympic team as a development consultant. She diplomatically reacted to the incident and instead focused on how both teams won saying, “At the end of the day, it’s just about the country.”
Other members of the women’s team spoke out on the situation, as well. Team captain Hilary Knight shared how she thought “it was a sort of distasteful joke, and unfortunately that is overshadowing a lot of the success.”
Members of the men’s team also shared their perspectives on the situation, with Jack Hughes saying that he believes people to be “so negative about things.”Despite women’s sports being viewed as nothing more than a punchline, one step in the right direction can be seen. On March 20, the WNBA got a massive pay raise, with the salary cap jumping from $1.5 million to $7 million and the minimum salary increasing to $270,000 to $300,000. It took more than 17 months of negotiation, but is something that will chip away at the disparities when it comes to women’s professional athletics. The world of women’s sports has been mocked since the start, and even though there has been progress, there is still a long way to go until women and men will truly be on an equal playing field.
