The USA skated to victory on Sunday, taking down archrival Canada in a 4-3 overtime thriller to earn the team's 11th IIHF Women’s World Championship title.
The US is now closing in on Canada's record 13 World Championship wins, setting the tone in the run-up to next year’s Winter Olympics as North America’s PWHL showcased its growing influence on the international stage.
After Canada equalized the second-period goals from US defender Caroline Harvey and forward Abbey Murphy — the potential No. 1 pick in June's 2025 PWHL Draft — the game's third period saw Team USA lose starting goaltender Aerin Frankel to injury.
Backup goalie and IIHF World Championship debutant Gwyneth Philips stepped in, seeing the USA to a back-and-forth 3-3 tie at the end of regulation.
Philips's 17 saves — including 10 in overtime — allowed US forward and current Penn State junior Tessa Janecke to play hero, with the 20-year-old capitalizing on a turnover by tapping in a golden goal with three minutes left in the first overtime period.
"Just shows how strong we are as a group and how much we can persevere through anything," Janecke said afterwards. "I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group."
The tournament itself also proved to be a success, setting a new IIHF Women’s World Championship attendance record as 122,331 total fans took in the games in Czechia.
"I think this is a watershed moment for women's hockey, and it's really exciting to be a part of," said US captain Hilary Knight after earning her 10th Worlds gold medal.
In a shifting hockey landscape, the USA-Canada rivalry is only becoming more intense — and the looming 2026 Olympics will provide yet another chance to steal the sport's global spotlight.
Zimbabwean swimming legend Kirsty Coventry made history on Thursday, when she became both the first woman and first African ever elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
At 41-years-old, Coventry will also be the youngest president in the organization's 131-year history and the 10th individual to ever hold the office.
"As an nine-year-old girl, I never thought I would be standing up here one day getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours," the five-time Olympian said in her remarks.
An extensive Olympic resume, in and out of the pool
The Auburn University grad and seven-time Olympic medal-winner — including back-to-back golds in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games — retired from competition after the 2016 Rio Olympics.
At that time, Coventry was already three years into her IOC membership, after initially joining as part of the governing body's Athletes' Commission. She joined the Executive Committee in 2023.
"I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have taken," Coventry said to her fellow members in her acceptance speech. "Now we have got some work together."
That work that awaits Coventry in her eight-year mandate will include navigating the 2028 LA Games and selecting a host for the 2036 Summer Games.
Her first Olympic Games at the helm, however, will be the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, giving her less than a year to prepare before the Opening Ceremony kicks off.
Coventry to continue IOC efforts to promote gender equity
Coventry will have a few months to adjust before assuming her new office on June 23rd, when she will succeed her mentor, 71-year-old Thomas Bach.
Bach will have served the IOC's maximum 12-year tenure in the role when he steps down, having led the governing body to stage the first-ever Olympic Games with equal numbers of women and men competing — a mark captured at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
With gender equity as a driving force in his leadership, Bach also increased the number women serving as both IOC members and in the organization's leadership roles, with women comprising seven of the body's 15-person executive board.
Coventry is one of those seven women, and Bach specifically hand-picked her as his successor.
The legacy she inherits isn't lost on Coventry, both in the efforts of Bach and in the women who paved the way — perhaps none more directly than IOC member Anita DeFrantz, a 1976 Olympic bronze medal-winning rower for Team USA and the only other woman to ever run for IOC president.
Recognizing the election's historic significance, 72-year-old DeFrantz overcame significant health issues to travel to Greece in order to vote for Coventry — with her ballot securing the exact number of votes Coventry needed to win.
"I was really proud that I could make her proud," an emotional Coventry said.