‘It’s intoxicating’: At Winter Olympics, those with Idaho ties experienced in medal hunt

Cammi Granato had never forgotten the young girl she loaned her stick and gloves to during one of the former U.S. Olympian’s first hockey camps in Chicago in the late 1990s.

It was years later when Granato discovered that girl just happened to be Hilary Knight, one of the Idaho athletes competing in this month’s Winter Olympics in China.

“Her stick broke and I said, ‘Here, just take mine right now,’ because she didn’t have another one. I mean, she was so little,” Granato recalled. “I remember her distinctly at that moment. I didn’t know it was Hilary until Hilary told me years later that it was her.”

Knight was 8, and drawn to the sport in large part due to Granato, who captained the 1998 United States team that beat Canada in Nagano to win the Winter Olympics’ first women’s hockey gold medal. Since then, those two countries have battled in the gold-medal game in every Olympics except 2006, when Sweden upset the U.S. in the semifinals.

The symbolism of her passing the stick on to Knight — a Sun Valley resident who is not “so little” anymore and has become a big deal in women’s hockey — isn’t lost on the 50-year-old Granato.

Much like Granato and her teammates did to inspire a generation of girls to take up hockey, the 32-year-old Knight is doing the same, having become the face of a U.S. team preparing to defend its latest Olympic title at the Beijing Games.

Knight is making her U.S. women’s hockey record-matching fourth Olympic appearance, having won the gold in 2018 and two silvers, in ‘10 and ‘14. Knight also has been part of eight teams that have won gold at the annual world championships.

“That’s the one thing I really admire about this group of women. They’re actually out there growing the game, pushing the envelope for more rights, for more equality while they’re playing,” said Granato, the first female Hockey Hall of Fame inductee who now serves as a scout for the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.

“So Hilary, both on and off the ice, what she means for the growth of the game is exponential.”

Knight’s climb in the record books

Knight is a 5-foot-11 forward who has a powerful skating style and hard shot. She ranks fifth in the U.S. Olympic record book with 17 career points (six goals, 11 assists), one behind Granato. At the worlds, Knight surpassed Granato’s records (44 goals and 78 points) in August by increasing her totals to 47 goals and 80 points.

A few months later, the Idahoan was still having difficulty grasping the reality of moving ahead of her idol.

“It still feels so distant,” she said. “It still feels very much that Cammi’s No. 1 to me, personally, you know? Because that’s what it feels like, right? I still feel very much so like a little kid in many ways.”

Knight says she keeps playing because of the joy she still draws from hockey. Yet she has proved to be more than capable of taking on many of the challenges women have faced in advancing the game.

Knight was at the forefront of the U.S. players’ threat to boycott the 2017 world championships on home soil, successfully achieving their bid for better pay and more equitable treatment from USA Hockey. Two years later, Knight helped form the Professional Women’s Player’s Hockey Association, which continues to push for a North American women’s pro league with sustainable wages.

On the ice, Knight has led the U.S. in points and/or scoring at five world tournaments. At the 2017 worlds, she scored the overtime goal to seal a 3-2 win over Canada in the gold medal game.

Knight’s dual impact has earned her immense respect from teammates and opponents.

“She puts her team before her always, and fights until the end,” Finland captain Jenni Hiirikoski said. “We have a lot of good battles on the ice, and she’s a really big star for our game. It’s been an honor to play against her so many years, and hopefully she’ll also play many more.”

U.S. forward Kendall Coyne Schofield sees a direct connection to Granato.

“When I was a young girl, I looked up to Cammi Granato. Now, no one’s Cammi, but when you look at someone who carries the weight of this sport on her shoulders like Cammi did … you can put Hilary Knight in that category,” she said.

Knight politely deflects the attention, focusing ahead on the next challenge in becoming the first U.S. team to successfully defend its Olympic title. There is always a new test to keep her coming back.

“Honestly, coming in every day and being humbled by the sport because it’s a challenge, right?” Knight said. “That’s what keeps us all hungry to continue to come back and try to be a part of this team. The women in that room are incredible, and it’s intoxicating in a way. You just want to be a part of it.”

Knight and the U.S. open play on Thursday against Finland at 6 a.m. Mountain time, with the game airing on USA Network. The team also will face Russia, Switzerland and archrival Canada in preliminary games. The quarterfinals start on Feb. 11, the semifinals are on Feb. 14 and the gold-medal game is on Wednesday night, Feb. 16.

It would be a shock if Knight does not claim her fourth Olympic medal this month, and there will be other athletes with Idaho ties trying to make the stand on sport’s grand stage. Here’s a look.

Chase Josey, snowboard

Josey will be competing in his second straight Winter Games. The 26-year-old Hailey native finished fifth in the men’s halfpipe at the 2021 world championships and was sixth in South Korea in the 2018 Olympics.

Halfpipe is, of course, the domain of one of the most famous U.S. Olympians, Shaun White, who has won gold three times: 2018, 2010 and 2006. White will be competing this year, too.

In a statement to the Idaho Mountain Express in Ketchum, Josey said “there was something special about the culture I was raised in within snowboarding” in Sun Valley, noting that “it’s about the people you meet, the memories you make and the experiences you have along the way.

“I think that advice has always helped keep me tranquil and level-headed as I’ve been able to compete in the sport at this level.”

The halfpipe qualifying is Feb. 9 and the medal runs are on Feb. 11.

Andrew Blaser, skeleton

Blaser, 32, was born in Boise and raised in Meridian, and he was a decathlete at the University of Idaho. Now he’ll be competing in his first Olympics as the lone man representing the U.S. in skeleton — zooming down an ice track on a sled, head-first, in excess of 80 mph, all by himself.

The United States has won eight medals in skeleton, but the last man to reach the stand was Matthew Antoine, who won bronze in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Blaser, who spoke to the Idaho Statesman in 2019 as he embarked on his first World Cup season, is ranked 28th in the world. The men’s skeleton will take place on Feb. 10-11.

Caitlin and Scott Patterson, cross country skiing

The Patterson siblings — Caitlin, 31, and Scott, 29, natives of McCall — are both going to their second straight Olympics. Caitlin finished 26th in the 30-kilometer classical and 34th in the skiathlon in 2018, while Scott was 11th in the 50km classical, 18th in skiathlon, 13th as a member of the men’s relay team and 21st in the 15km freestyle.

“I’m very excited to be heading to my second Olympic Games! The U.S. is bringing a strong group of cross-country athletes and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do,” Caitlin said in a press release from U.S. Ski and Snowboard.

The U.S. has made progress competing in the long-distance ski events over the past decade. Even still, at the PyeongChang Games in 2018, when Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall won gold in the team sprint — with a telecast moment that went viral — it was the first medal of any kind in cross country for U.S. women in the Olympics. The men have only one medal, a silver in 1976 from Bill Koch, in an event that has been discontinued.

Diggins, who is back in the Olympics this year, finished fifth in the women’s skiathlon in 2018, the highest finish ever for a U.S. woman in an individual cross country event. She was the World Cup overall champion in 2021, and teammate Rosie Brennan was fourth. They lead a team the Pattersons hope to help make noise in China.

“I’m excited to return to the Olympics and build on the successes I had in 2018,” Scott said. “We have a strong contingent of U.S. athletes and I look forward to being a part of it!”

The cross country events span much of the Games, from Feb. 5 (women’s 15k skiathlon) to Feb. 20 (women’s 30k freestyle).

Schedule

The Olympics officially run from Friday, Feb. 4 to Sunday, Feb. 20, but some sports begin competition on Wednesday. The opening ceremonies are Friday.

Click here for a U.S. TV schedule.