Hilary Knight Is Engaged! Who Is Her Fellow Olympian Fiancee, Brittani Bowe? Inside Their Love Story

Love is in full swing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. From Jean-Luc Baker’s Valentine’s Day engagement to Olivia Smart, to Ukrainian skier Kateryna Kotsar’s finish-line surprise by her boyfriend, romance is stealing the spotlight. Now, USA Women’s Hockey captain Hilary Knight and speed skater Brittani Bowe have added their own headline, announcing their engagement in a touching full-circle moment of their Olympic love story.

As Knight plays in what she’s calling her final Olympic chapter, she has her loudest supporter by her side, someone who has known and lived through the same experience. Standing just off the ice rink is her fiancée, Brittani Bowe. 

As she bids adieu to the Olympic rink with the 2026 Winter Olympics, Knight wishes for “another gold medal,” and wants to leave on a high note, “sort of that storybook ending”, as she told NBC Sports. In this bittersweet moment, let’s take a closer look at their love story, one that began in the Olympic Village and has now come full circle, as they start a new chapter together in the very place where they first fell in love.

Hilary Knight and Brittani Bowe get engaged in the middle of the Winter Olympics 2026

Hilary Knight and Brittani Bowe got engaged inside the Olympic Village during the 2026 Winter Games. On Wednesday, February 18, 2026 (ET), just ahead of Knight’s women’s hockey gold medal game, the couple shared the joyful news in a joint Instagram post. The Team USA hockey star dropped to one knee and proposed to the speed skater, who proudly showed off her engagement ring while flashing a bright smile for the camera. The athletic duo is competing in their respective sports at the Games, and they just marked the start of their “forever” on one of the world’s biggest stages. Sharing the heartfelt moment, the couple wrote:

“Olympics brought us together. This one made us forever.”

The engagement announcement took the internet by storm, with fans and fellow athletes congratulating the couple on this new chapter. As Hilary Knight prepares to bid adieu to the Olympic village, she is making sure to make it a memorable final round. Despite coming from two very different athletic worlds, the couple is grateful for the Olympic Games for bringing them together. Here’s everything you need to know about the newly engaged pair.

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Hilary Knight and Brittani Bowe fell in love at the Olympics

At 36, Hilary Knight is the face of American women’s hockey and widely recognised as one of the greatest players in the sport’s history. She and her now-fiancée, Brittani Bowe, had seen and known each other for years at Team USA events, but it wasn’t until the 2022 Beijing Games that things truly clicked. For Brittani, the year was a historic one, not only because she was standing at the Olympic podium for the first time in her competitive speed skating career, but also because it was the year that she found her love, U.S. women’s hockey team captain Hilary Knight.

Reflecting on meeting her partner, Bowe told PEOPLE, “That was the biggest win coming out of Beijing for sure.” In the early days of their relationship, their dates weren’t as glamorous because of COVID. They used to mask up and take walks around the Olympic Village amid the pandemic-related restrictions. However, it was within that “quiet bubble” that they got a space to truly connect. Speaking about their initial days together, Bowe said:

“Hilary and I have known each other for a number of years through different Team USA events, a number of different Olympics, but that’s the first time we really did have time to connect and get to know one another. And it was everything other than glamorous, that’s for sure! Hilary would ask, like, ‘Oh, do you want to go for a walk after dinner?’ And that was our first date, going to walk around the Olympic Village masked because everyone was so fearful of getting COVID.”

For four years now, Knight and Bowe have shared a home in Salt Lake City and kept supporting each other like seasoned teammates. From barely knowing each other’s sports to being each other’s training partners and biggest cheerleaders, the couple has split their family ticket plans so that both hockey and speed skating get equal love in Milan. 

Who is Brittani Bowe?

A fellow Olympian and a veteran U.S. speed skater, Brittani Bowe is no stranger to the pressure that comes with this high-stakes competition. At 37, she has proven her powerful presence, competing in multiple Winter Games and winning two Olympic bronze medals, one in the 2018 game at PyeongChang, and another in 2022 as part of the U.S. women’s squad in the Beijing Olympics. Born and brought up in Florida, Bowe started her athletic career as a basketball player at Florida Atlantic University. Although she had initially planned on a WNBA career, she found her true calling in speed skating after watching the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

This will be Hilary Knight’s final Olympics

Hilary Knight needs no introduction. She has been a household name on the USA Women’s hockey team, with numerous honours, including five Olympic appearances and four medals, including one Gold in 2018 and three Silver in 2010, 2014, and 2022. And now, after championing the Olympic rink for over two decades, she is competing for the fifth and final time at the 2016 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. 

While Knight has hinted this will be her final Olympics, she’s not done competing just yet. She plans to continue playing in world championships and the Professional Women’s Hockey League, where she captains the Seattle expansion team. But for now, all eyes are on Milan, and on a beloved captain chasing one last gold before leaving the Olympic village. And this time, she has her soon-to-be-wife, who understands exactly what this moment means.

As Brittani Bowe put it, “I can’t think of a better way to end a career than with the flag on you and your family in the stands.” 

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