The U.S. Women's Hockey Team is relishing in their historic gold medal win at the 2026 Olympics. One of those players who was instrumental in leading them to victory was Laila Edwards of the University of Wisconsin.
Edwards made history by becoming the first black woman to represent the U.S. Women's Hockey Team.
On Thursday, Edwards, back at Wisconsin, spoke about the pride in seeing the growth in women's hockey, per Leah Doherty of Cleveland 19 News. She even pointed out that Tom Brady came to watch the team play.
“You see people that you didn't even really think would know about women's hockey, like Tom Brady was at our game, I thought that was really cool,” Edwards said.
"You see people that you didn't even really think would know about women's hockey, like Tom Brady was at our game, I thought that was really cool."
Laila Edwards on seeing the growth of women's hockey at the Olympics 👀 (🎥: @LeahDohertyTV) pic.twitter.com/r78bIeOFn6
— THE SHIFT (@theshift_sports) February 26, 2026
Over the course of the Olympics, Edwards finished with eight points, including two goals and six assists. In the process, the American team won its third gold medal in Olympic history. They won the inaugural Olympic tournament in 1998 in Nagano. Then they won at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang.
Edwards is currently playing out her senior year at Wisconsin. She has 36 points thus far, including eight goals and 28 assists. Additionally, Edwards has received numerous accolades at Wisconsin. Among them are First-Team All-American, WCHA Forward of the Year Finalist, and Forbes 2025 North America 30 Athletes under 30 Selection.
She is from Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Her fellow residents, Jason and Travis Kelce, helped pay for her family to go to Milan to watch. On the latest episode of The New Heights Podcast, the Kelce Brothers celebrated the gold medal wins by the women's and men's teams.
