U.S. Women's Ice Hockey Team Won Equal Pay, Then Olympic Gold

The U.S. women’s ice hockey team just won gold.

“The greatest day of all of our lives,” U.S. captain Meghan Duggan told USA Today.

“I’m so happy. Just take a picture of my face,” said 30-year-old veteran Gigi Marvin.

But their biggest victory came months ago.  Before the team defeated their rival Canada, they had another important fight to win — equal pay. In 2017, the team spoke out saying USA hockey wasn’t paying them living wages. Many of them had to work multiple jobs to survive and it wasn’t due to a lack of performance — the team had medaled in every Olympics since 1998.

The women started a boycott of the world championships and USA Hockey threatened the team with replacement players. But a flood of support from the NHL, NBA, WNBA, MLB and even members of Congress convinced USA hockey to back down and offer the women’s team what they deserved.

Winning Olympic gold is an amazing accomplishment, but the legacy these women leave off the rink will last even longer.