During Team USA’s 5-0 victory over Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan on Tuesday, Laila Edwards scored her first Olympic goal, making her the first Black woman to score for the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team.
The Cleveland Heights, Ohio, native had first made history days ago when she became the first Black woman to compete in an Olympic ice hockey tournament for the U.S. The 22-year-old earned her first point in the 5-1 win over Czechia at the Olympic Winter Games.
Even though there are other women like Blake Bolden and Laila’s older sister, Chayla, being members of the USA Hockey Development Program, none of them were selected to represent the senior women’s team in international competition.
“I take a lot of pride in it, and I’m just going to embrace it, because representation matters,” Edwards said on February 5. “No matter how uncomfortable it can be, it’s for the next generation.”
Edwards first learned how to figure skate before becoming a star hockey player for the U.S.
“Being an Olympian is crazy, just to even say it out loud,” Edwards said to 11Alive ahead of the Winter Olympics.
While she was growing up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, her father, Robert, a recreational hockey player, knew that it would be easier for her to play hockey if she started with figure skating. But Edwards knew figure skating was not her passion.
“I wasn’t big on the tutus and leotards,” she said. “I was more of a tomboy. Hockey just fit me better.”
Becoming more interested in hockey, she honed her skills in it and caught the eye of her coaches and teammates.
“I realized how special she was when she was about seven,” one family friend recounted. “She was making adult moves on the ice, scoring goals like crazy. You could just tell she was ahead of everyone else.”
Being one of the few Black girls in a sport dominated by whites came with its own challenges.
“Walking into a rink and hearing someone tell me the basketball court’s that way — those moments taught me lessons,” she said. “They made my skin thicker.”
Today, she is making history for herself and Team USA in Olympic hockey, and she is so proud of that.
“I know I have the opportunity to be a role model for young athletes, especially hockey players of color,” she said. “Given this platform, I’m going to use it.”
Edwards had already made strides at the University of Wisconsin, where she became one of the nation’s top forwards who won two national titles with the Badgers in just three seasons. “Winning a championship with some of my best friends — including my sister — that’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had,” she said.
And wearing the USA uniform is a result of her hard work and dedication to the sport, she said.
“When I can’t sleep at night, I picture those Olympic rings,” said the 6-foot‑1 U.S. women’s hockey player. “I imagine the gold medal around my neck, standing on the podium. It feels close now — it’s reachable.”
Travis Kelce and his brother Jason both supported a GoFundMe page set up by Edwards’ family to help send as many of her family members to Italy for the Games.
“She’s incredible. If you put someone like her on the stands, she’s going to shine bright,” Edwards’ U.S. teammate Abbey Murphy told reporters after Edwards’ first game at the Olympics.
“It’s been incredible to see her journey. She’s a great person off the ice, I wish everyone could get the chance to know her a little bit. She brings a lot of laughs. She’s killing it.”
