Sarah Nurse on the Olympics, her message for young athletes, who the best athlete in her family is and more

About that heartbreaking loss to the U.S. at the 2026 Olympic women's hockey final last month, Sarah Nurse says, “that was the most fun I’ve had in a hockey game in a very long time.”

The Canadian team lost 2-1 in overtime when American defender Megan Keller scored the winner four minutes and seven seconds into extra time, giving the U.S. its third gold medal after victories in 1998 and 2018.

Nurse, 31, a star forward for the Vancouver Goldeneyes of the Professional Women's Hockey League picked up a silver medal in Italy to go with the gold she won at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China and a silver at the PyeongChang 2018 Games in South Korea.

CBC Hamilton spoke with Nurse about how, a few weeks later, she views the loss to the U.S., how she supported younger teammates through defeat, her message to young athletes in Hamilton and which member of her extraordinary family is the best athlete.

Here’s an abridged and edited interview she did with CBC Hamilton on March 11. 

How are you feeling now that it’s been a few weeks since the gold medal game?

Obviously, the game wasn't the result that we wanted, but playing in that game was so much fun and I think that's what I feel coming out of that game. That was the most fun I've had in a hockey game in a very long time.

Coming back, there wasn't a lot of downtime. We've gotten right back into our season, and so we've played a couple games. We've been practicing. We've been doing a bunch of events here in Vancouver. So, there hasn't been much time to really dwell on, you know, getting a silver medal but I think it's been a great opportunity for us to continue to elevate the game of women's hockey and, I think we've been doing a great job of that.

You’re already a gold medal winner. As a veteran, how did you support younger teammates after the loss?

Going into my third Olympics, I had a gold and silver medal under my belt already. I know, kind of, the feelings that go into being in your first Olympics and going into a gold medal game, [which is] unlike any feeling that you've ever had in the world. You think that you're so prepared — obviously you've played this game your whole life — but the amount of buzz and media and obviously your dreams are in that one game. 

And so, I just tried to make sure that I was providing perspective of: "Hey, I've been there. I totally know what you're going through. It's OK to be nervous. It's OK to be anxious, and it's OK to feel all of those emotions because, if you don't, if you try to push them down, we're not going to be our best selves."

I think our whole group just encouraged our young ones — who are very, very good, they're very skilled and they're going to be very good for a long time — to really feel all of those emotions and, it was definitely difficult because obviously you want to win a gold medal for your teammates and, and everybody wants to go home with one. 

I understand that the experience that our team was able to gain is going to be something that's going to fuel and motivate the group moving forward. And so, I think that it was just excellent to be there with our team and see the way that we battled in that final game.

What did you think of the American women’s team choosing not to go to the White House like the men’s team did after their victory?