US gold medal-winning captain Hilary Knight reveals she played at the Olympics with a torn MCL

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NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. women's hockey gold medal-winning captain Hilary Knight revealed Monday in a television appearance that she played in Milan with a torn medial collateral ligament in one of her knees.

“I’m not walking around the best, and I’m missing a few games for the (PWHL’s) Seattle Torrent,” Knight said on “CBS Mornings.”

"To be able to play through injury was definitely a mental sort of gymnastic challenge for myself and also physical, but we’ve got some amazing support staff that did their best to get me out there and perform at my best — as best as I could.”

Knight, playing at what she said was her final Olympics at 36, tied the final against Canada with just over two minutes left in regulation. Knight, teammate Kendall Coye Schofield and Canada’s Erin Ambrose were all put on long-term injured reserve by their respective PWHL teams upon returning for the resumption of the season.

Knight and U.S. men's gold medal-winning players Jack and Quinn Hughes are set to appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Monday night. That is coming 48 hours since their memorable cameo alongside women’s golden goal scorer Megan Keller on “Saturday Night Live.”

Jack Hughes also scored to beat Canada in overtime, like Keller did three days earlier. The men's gold medal is the country's first since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid.

Jack with the New Jersey Devils and Quinn with the Minnesota Wild have returned to play games in the NHL. The Devils gave Jack a day off from practice ahead of their appearance with Knight on Fallon's show, which is expected to be the final stop on the brothers' whirlwind media tour since returning to North America.

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AP Olympic coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics