Bloodied Winter Olympics star breaks silence on losing two teeth to win gold | Other | Sport

Jack Hughes lost two teeth as he delivered the gold medal for the USA against Canada in the Winter Olympics men’s ice hockey final. The United States won gold in the final event of the Games, sealing their first ice hockey gold in 46 years, with a dramatic overtime victory. Hughes secured victory with the game-winning goal just one minute and 41 seconds into the extra period at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena to spark wild scenes on the ice.

But the Americans’ third-ever gold medal in this discipline, and their first since 1980, was not without sacrifice for Hughes. The New Jersey Devils forward took a high stick to the face in the third period. The incident drew blood and left Hughes down on the ice, also taking his teeth. One of his front incisors was almost entirely smashed out of his mouth. “My first thought was, I looked down on the ice and saw my teeth,” Hughes said while wearing a toothless grin post-game. “Like, here we go again… I know the last time that happened, wasn’t really fun.”

Images of a smiling Hughes, missing his teeth and with blood on his lips, went viral after the match. On scoring past goaltender Jordan Binnington to win gold, Hughes said: “Overtime, anything can happen. Who’s going to make the first mistake? Just a good play by Larks [Dylan Larkin] and Z [Zach Werenski] getting up the ice. Obviously, Z found me.

“It doesn’t matter about the goal. It’s an unbelievable team. Unbelievable team win… [goaltender Connor Hellebuyck] stood on his head… We’re so proud to win for our country. We’re gold medalists.”

He added in an interview shared by the White House on X: “This is all about our country right now. I’m so proud to be American right now. I love my country, I love my team-mates. That’s American hockey right there. That’s a great Canadian team but this means so much.

“We are such a team. The USA brotherhood in this team is so strong. I cannot believe this. It could have gone either way tonight.” President Donald Trump wrote: “Congratulations to our great U.S.A. Ice Hockey team. THEY WON THE GOLD. WOW! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Hughes’ team-mate Matthew Tkachuk said of the 24-year-old game-winner: “Jack ‘the superstar’ Hughes. I don’t know how many (teeth) he lost, but it’s only fitting. That’s a guy who is willing to give it all and what a huge goal.”

Jack’s older brother Quinn, also a member of the victorious USA team, told journalists: “For him to just persevere and keep believing and just keep going no matter what happens, he’s a special guy, a special player.

“He’s always been a gamer. Just mentally tough, been through a lot, loves the game. An American hero. I’m just so proud of him. People have no idea how hard this journey has been for him, dealing with injuries and battling through so much to be the player he is.”

And head coach Mike Sullivan added: “Jack had a terrific tournament from the first game on. The goals he scored were big time goal. It’s an emotional rollercoaster when you go through these experiences and I just think Jack was at the centre of a lot of the good things that happened for our team…

“He brought his very best when these stakes were the highest. Tonight was a perfect example of it.”