YWCA USA and ERA Coalition Celebrate U.S. Women’s Hockey Team’s Historic Gold Medal Victory

For Immediate Release 
Contact: Mike Leone  
Vice President, Marketing and Communications Strategy   
communications@ywca.org

The U.S. Women’s Hockey Team captured gold at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games with a commanding, historic performance — a moment that showcased the team’s extraordinary leadership, resilience, and competitive excellence on the world’s biggest stage. 

Their victory marks a defining moment for women’s sports and reflects more than a century of progress toward equal opportunity in athletics. In the earliest years of the modern Olympic Games, women were excluded from competition entirely. When they were finally permitted to compete in 1900, just 22 women participated across five sports. Over the next century, women steadily pushed for inclusion, culminating in full participation across all Olympic sports by 2012. 

The team’s achievement reflects generations of athletes, advocates, and institutions who pushed to expand opportunity for women and girls in sport. Long before women stood on Olympic podiums, organizations across the country worked to open doors to athletic participation — building gyms, creating programs, and challenging the notion that sport was reserved for men. In the early 1900s, YWCA associations helped lead this effort by establishing women-only recreation spaces where women and girls could train, compete, and build confidence at a time when athletic opportunity was severely limited. 

Today, alongside the ERA Coalition and partners including the AAUW, Equality Now, Feminist Majority, League of Women Voters (LWV-US), MANA, A National Latina Organization, National LGBTQ Task Force, and the National Organization for Women (NOW), YWCA USA celebrates the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and their historic gold medal victory. This achievement reflects not only excellence on the ice, but the culmination of generations of advocacy, perseverance, and progress in women’s sports. 

“When the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team stood on the podium, they showed the world what excellence looks like,” said YWCA USA CEO Margaret Mitchell. “We offer our heartfelt congratulations to these extraordinary athletes for their historic gold medal victory. Their achievement reminds us that when women are given athletic opportunities with equal investment, and equal respect, they don’t just compete. They lead.”  

The victory also resonated deeply across the broader movement for gender equity, underscoring the connection between athletic opportunity and lasting social progress. 

Zakiya Thomas, CEO of the ERA Coalition added, “As we honor Women’s History Month, we want to uplift the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team. They are champions in every sense of the word — competitors, leaders, and role models for the next generation. This moment reminds us that progress is built by those who challenge barriers, expand opportunity, and insist that women and girls belong everywhere.” 

That spirit of progress echoes the legacy of earlier movements that reshaped access, opportunity, and leadership for women in every arena. 

“Just as the League of Women Voters began in 1920 as a political experiment to empower women, the US Women’s Hockey Team continues that legacy by conquering new frontiers in sport,” said Jessica Jones Capparell, director of government affairs for the League of Women Voters. “Their victory reflects the same spirit of suffragists who refused to accept the status quo and who held a commitment to excellence in the face of every challenge. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, these athletes have etched their names into the history books, proving that perseverance and teamwork are the ultimate catalysts for change.” 

For advocates who continue to fight for equity today, the team’s gold medal served as both a celebration of progress and a reminder of the work that remains. 

“This gold-medal victory says something undeniable: Equality is not aspirational -- it is long overdue,” said Kim Villanueva, President of National Organization for Women. “The staying power of the U.S. women's national ice hockey team matters. It pushes every woman to keep fighting for equity and respect in every part of our lives, from pay and partnership to bodily autonomy.” 

The team’s success also highlights the measurable, long-term impact of investing in women and girls through sport. 

“What the U.S. Women's Hockey Team showed the world goes far beyond the scoreboard — it is a powerful demonstration of what athletic opportunity does for all women and girls: it builds leaders,” said Gloria L. Blackwell, CEO of AAUW. “The research is clear that girls who play sports develop the resilience, confidence, and skills that shape them for life, and that is the fundamental promise of Title IX. This team reminds us exactly why we must remain steadfast in fighting to fulfill that promise — for every woman and girl, without exception." 

YWCA USA and the ERA Coalition congratulate the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team on their historic victory and celebrate the leadership, determination, and teamwork that carried them to gold. Their achievement reflects the strength of a new generation of athletes building on those who came before them and reminds us that when women and girls are given the opportunity to compete, they rise to the moment and inspire the future of sport. 

About YWCA USA 

YWCA USA is an independent, nonpartisan organization committed to eliminating racism, empowering women, and advancing peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. For more than 160 years, YWCA USA and Local Associations nationwide have worked to meet the needs of women, girls, and families through direct services, advocacy, and community leadership.  

YWCA USA is the national entity responsible for strengthening and supporting Local Associations so they can deliver services, advance equity, and drive impact for women and girls especially women and girls of color through advocacy, programming, and sustainable organizational development. 

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, YWCA USA does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. For more information, visit ywca.org. 

About the ERA Coalition 

The ERA Coalition is a diverse coalition of more than 300 partner organizations, representing 80 million people, committed to enshrining sex equality in the U.S. Constitution and states across the country. 

We are a movement of movements. From gender, racial, economic and reproductive justice to labor and LGBTQ+ rights, we unite interconnected, intergenerational, and intersectional organizations under one banner: to advance sex equality. We come together to use the Equal Rights Amendment to build a foundation for equal treatment under the law. This is what unites us all. 

The Coalition works to mobilize people in an inclusive forum with this one powerful goal. We share strategies and resources at the local, state, and federal levels, build support within Congress, provide legislative expertise, educate the American public about the urgent need for constitutional equality, and more.