Three-time Olympic medalist Brianna Decker has announced her retirement from hockey.
The 31-year-old forward has been a member of Team USA since 2011, when she took part in her first IIHF Women’s World Championship. She won gold with Team USA at that tournament, beginning a run of six consecutive world titles. She won tournament MVP in 2017.
Decker also was a member of the Olympic gold medal-winning team at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. She traveled with the team to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, but she suffered a broken left fibula and torn ankle ligaments in the team’s opener.
Thank you all! pic.twitter.com/Z21BJORKGo
— Brianna Decker (@Bdecker14) March 2, 2023
“I will never forget how this game, these fans and this country molded a small girl from Dousman, Wisconsin, and allowed my dreams of being a professional hockey player come true,” she wrote. “It’s been a dream and I look forward to the next chapter of what I consider to be a beautiful career.”
The Wisconsin native played her collegiate career for the Badgers and won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the nation’s top player in 2012. She later played professionally in the CWHL, NWHL (now PHF) and the PWHPA.
In her announcement, Decker says that returning to Shattuck-St. Mary’s as a prep associate head coach and advisor has been helpful as she takes the next step in her career.
“I feel right back at home,” she wrote. “Having the opportunity to help young athletes achieve the same goals I did is a passion of mine and I look forward to a long career of being a small part of building the future of this beautiful game I love so much.”
Decker is also working with the PHF in a part-time advisory role.