In our Sleeping With… series, we ask people from different career paths, backgrounds, and stages of life how they make sleep magic happen.
As a three-time Olympic medalist, Hilary Knight is a master when it comes to performing at her best when it matters the most. In 2018, in PyeongChang, the Red Bull athlete built upon her two previous silvers by recording two goals and an assist in five games to help Team USA win its first gold medal since the inaugural women’s hockey tournament at the 1998 Games.
Now, Knight, 32, is looking to help lead Team USA to back-to-back golds, this time at the Beijing Games. But winning the top spot on the world’s biggest stage will be no easy feat.
Ahead of the Olympic tournament, the U.S. women’s hockey team contested longtime rivals Canada in the My Why Tour, a nine-game series that began at the end of October and was slated to run through January 6. However, amid COVID-19 concerns, the last three matches were canceled, ending with a 4-2 bottom line in favor of Canada. It was a disappointing turn of events for sure—especially since momentum had been trending on the U.S. women’s side. After all, four years ago in PyeongChang, Team USA handed Canada the team’s first loss in an Olympic final this millennium.
“It’s one of those things where obviously, as competitors, you just want to win every time you’re on the ice,” Knight tells SELF after the team’s overtime loss in St. Louis in December. “But it’s a good measuring stick for us to be able to work on the things that are not so tidy for us right now and hopefully improve them before we get to February.”
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Plus, while the Americans may have come up short this winter, NBC Sports points out that, in the last few years, there’s actually been a negative correlation between winning the exhibition series and winning Olympic gold. In other words, historically, the teams who won the pre-Olympics tune-ups turned out to be less likely to win on the biggest stage.
Going into the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Knight tells SELF that she feels good about Team USA’s chances of winning back-to-back gold medals in China—something that she says she doesn’t “necessarily look at as us defending.” After all, a lot has happened over the last four years, including a global pandemic.
“It seems like four years ago was so far away, and this is obviously a different group—a young group—that’s excited to really take the world stage by storm,” she says. The team will “continue to do what we do best, try to capture gold for our nation, and share it as much as we can, given COVID, with all of our loved ones, supporters, and people who’ve cheered us on.”
Between December matchups, Knight sat down with SELF from St. Louis to discuss her nighttime routine, a process that helps her recharge as a fierce competitor on the ice.
When I’m home, my life revolves around my dogs—and my nighttime routine starts with them.
I have two bulldogs: Bane is four years old, and Baloo is a puppy. After dinner and about 15 minutes before I start winding down, we do a nighttime walk. It’s a nice, quick, 15-minute walk, which is great. You get that fresh air and your body is in a nice state when you come back in.
Source: SELF
