Miles Morrisseau
ICT
Even as a child growing up in the small town of Sainte Anne, Manitoba near Winnipeg, Jocelyne Larocque showed a competitive spirit that would make her the most-decorated Indigenous Olympian of all time from North America.
With Jocelyne playing defense and her older sister, Chantal, playing forward, the pair developed a sibling rivalry that fueled the fire they had for hockey.
“When we were young we had kind of a love-hate relationship,” Chantal Fritzsche told ICT from just outside Canada House at the Olympic Village in Milan, Italy, as she and other supporters prepared for the gold-medal hockey game on Thursday, Feb. 19, between Canada and the United States.
“There was a lot of competitiveness and always wanting our dad to pick us over each other,” Fritzsche said. “ So there was a lot of fighting that way. But now, you know, things have come full circle and we’re best friends, and hockey is a big thing that has always brought us together.”
And although the Canadian women would eventually lose 2-1 to the U.S. in overtime Thursday, family was there to watch as Jocelyne, Métis, brought home a silver medal to add to the two golds and silver she had already brought home from three prior Olympics.
Her four Olympic medals make her the most-decorated Indigenous athlete from North America.
Jocelyne’s father, Andy Larocque, coached his daughters, and when Jocelyne decided to move to Calgary and train with the national team he knew that she was destined to be a champion.
“Working with obviously the great people that have so many memories of winning national titles and playing at that level with the likes of Hayley Wickenheiser, Danielle Goyette,” Andy Larocque told ICT. “The stories we got back in Manitoba from Jocelyne is that they really cared for her and they really brought her in and made her feel welcome.”
The Larocque family travels all over the world to support Jocelyne and try to keep her comfortable on the road, he said.
“Every time Jocelyn puts on that jersey and we travel internationally or within Canada, it’s always special,” her father said. “We make sure those things are done, from washing laundry to getting Starbucks before the game and all these little rituals that the girls have formed for themselves over the years. We make sure that these things are there. They seem small, but it brings that comfort of home.”
Taking home a medal at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics adds more hardware to her overflowing trophy case.
In addition to her Olympic triumphs, Larocque has four gold medals and five silver in the world championships. In 2018, she was awarded the prestigious Tom Longboat Award for her contribution to Indigenous sports in Canada. In 2021, she was named Manitoba’s Indigenous Athlete of the Decade.
As a college student in 2008, she won a NCAA championship with the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Jocelyne is currently a member of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, playing for the Ottawa Charge.
Larocque has been representing her country for nearly 20 years, being named to the national team for the first time in 2008. She played in her first World Championship in 2011 and took home gold. She made her Olympic debut at the 2014 Winter games in Sochi, Russia, and took home her first Olympic gold.
Team Canada won silver at the 2018 games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and then returned to the top of the medal podium at the 2022 games in Beijing, China.
This year, Team Canada took on Team USA once again in what is perhaps the most-heated rivalry in hockey, with the competition in women’s hockey almost always coming down to Canada versus the U.S.
Canada won gold at the previous Olympics, but they were dominated by Team USA during the preliminary round at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, losing 5-0.
The Canadians led for most of the gold-medal game Thursday, however, until Team USA Captain Hilary Knight tied the game with the net empty and just over two minutes left to play. Megan Keller scored in overtime to win gold for the U.S.
Jocelyne is proud to be Métis and truly appreciates how her Indigenous identity is being acknowledged with her success.
“Growing up we knew we were Métis, but there wasn’t that much acknowledgement so for her to be acknowledged and for it to be world known that she is the most-decorated athlete, it’s something that she is so proud of and takes to heart,” Fritzsche said.
“And [she] wants Indigenous youth athletes and everybody to know that it doesn’t matter your age, your sex, anything, just if you have a dream, follow it. Look at her.”