From the women’s hockey rink at Milano Santagiulia Arena, to the halfpipe slopes of Livigno, to the Paralympic rink where history was being written night after night, Tigers past and present made their mark at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. Forward Sarah Fillier ’24 and defenseman Claire Thompson ’20 suited up together for Team Canada’s women’s hockey squad, while snowboarder Chloe Kim — who left Princeton towards the end of her first year to train for the Beijing Olympics in the spring of 2020 — came within one run of a historic three-peat in the halfpipe. Para sled hockey forward Declan Farmer ’20 put together one of the greatest individual performances in Paralympic history, and referee Kelly Cooke ’13 worked the biggest game of the women’s hockey tournament.
Women’s hockey: Fillier and Thompson fall one win short of gold
Fillier and Thompson arrived in Milan as two-time Olympians and defending gold medalists, part of a 16-player core returning from Canada’s dominant 2022 campaign in Beijing. They left with silver after being denied gold by a 2–1 overtime defeat to the United States in a taut final on Feb. 19.
Fillier, a forward for the New York Sirens of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 PWHL Draft, recorded three goals and three assists across seven games, finishing at plus-two. Her most decisive stretch came in the quarterfinals, where she scored twice to send Canada past Germany 5–1 and into the semifinals.
Thompson, a defenseman for the Vancouver Goldeneyes who set an Olympic record for points by a defenceman at Beijing 2022, added a goal and three assists across seven games to finish at plus-two. She scored Canada’s second goal in the quarterfinal win over Germany, logged heavy ice time in the knockout rounds as one of the team’s anchor defenders, and opened the tournament with a pair of assists in Canada’s 4–0 blanking of Switzerland.
Canada led 1–0 through most of the third period of the final until Hilary Knight’s redirect tied it with two minutes left in regulation. The US won in overtime. It was a silver-medal finish for both in their second Olympics — frustrating in the moment, but another chapter in Princeton’s long pipeline to hockey’s biggest stage.
Snowboard halfpipe: Kim denied historic three-peat
Chloe Kim arrived in Livigno carrying one of the great individual storylines of the Games: the chance to become the first snowboarder ever to win three consecutive Olympic halfpipe gold medals. She came agonizingly close.
What made the run even more remarkable was the context surrounding it. Just a month before the Games, Kim dislocated her shoulder and her participation looked doubtful. She shook off those concerns by qualifying for the final on Feb. 11, posting a 90.25 to top the field and signal that a three-peat was feasible. In the final the following evening, her opening run of 88.00 was clean and electric, and it held through two rounds as crashes piled up around her.
Then came Gaon Choi. The 17-year-old South Korean came back from a crash on her opening run to post a 90.25 on her final attempt, leapfrogging Kim to the top. Kim fell on her last run, but her 88.00 held, earning her the silver medal.
Kim greeted Choi at the bottom with a warm hug and left Livigno with a third Olympic medal — gold in 2018, gold in 2022, silver in 2026 — having competed weeks after an injury that nearly kept her home.
Para sled hockey: Farmer writes history in Milan
If the women’s hockey tournament was decided by inches, the Para ice hockey competition was a showcase of American dominance with one Tiger at the center of it.
Farmer entered Milano Cortina 2026 as a three-time Paralympic champion. He left as the greatest scorer in Paralympic history and a four-time consecutive gold medalist, after Team USA rolled to a 6–2 win over Canada in the gold medal final on March 15 before a record crowd of 11,795 at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
Farmer led the tournament with 26 points across five games — a new record for most points scored in a single Paralympic Winter Games. He recorded a hat trick in each of his first four games, broke the all-time Paralympic scoring record during the group stage against China, and scored in the final to help seal the game in the third period, though his goal briefly went under video review before being confirmed. “It put us up three goals deeper into the third period,” Farmer told The Daily Princetonian.
“That kind of felt like the sealer for sure,” he said.
He was awarded tournament MVP, Best Forward, and Media Best Player.
The final itself was a collective effort, and Farmer was quick to direct the credit toward his teammates. “Jack Wallace got a hat trick, rookie Kayden Beasley scored a big goal for us. Goalie Griffin had a really awesome game in his first Paralympic final start,” he told the ‘Prince.’ “It was an amazing team effort. We had so many friends and family there. The highlight is just celebrating and sharing that with everyone.”
Team USA’s victory extended its record to five consecutive Paralympic gold medals — a dynasty Farmer described as historically singular. “There’s only a handful of teams across Olympic and Paralympic history that have ever had five in a row,” he said. “Being in that company is pretty crazy.”
For Farmer, whose Princeton years included balancing economics and philosophy courses during the spring of his sophomore year while preparing for PyeongChang 2018, the Milan run represents the full arc of a decade of work. He credits Princeton athletics — which allowed him and future teammate Jack Wallace, then at The College of New Jersey, to share Baker Rink ice time during his undergraduate years — as a quiet but meaningful part of that foundation. Beyond the ice, he now serves on the athlete advocacy boards for USA Hockey and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and holds a long-term vision for a professional sled hockey league modeled on the PWHL.
“We sold out that stadium,” he said. “There’s enough good players to fill a handful of teams. I know it’ll happen someday.” With LA 2028 on the horizon, he is already looking ahead. “Each Paralympic team is different,” he said. “It’s really just about pursuing that next medal.”
Cooke calls the gold medal game
Rounding out Princeton’s presence in Milan was Kelly Cooke, selected as one of four American referees for the women’s Olympic tournament — her second Olympic assignment after Beijing 2022. A former Princeton forward turned corporate attorney and PWHL official, Cooke drew the assignment of working the gold medal game on Feb. 19, the highest-profile match in women’s hockey every four years.
“It’s the greatest game that they play,” Cooke told the ‘Prince.’ “Being on the ice with those players, and witnessing that game, not having to watch it on TV, is definitely something special.” She singled out calling the overtime goal as the moment she will carry the longest from the tournament. With Fillier and Thompson wearing the maple leaf and Cooke in stripes, Princeton’s women’s hockey alumni network was well represented on the ice in Milan from start to finish.
Xavier Latimer is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from New York City and can be reached at xl9194[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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