Gigi Marvin celebrates after winning the women's gold-medal ice hockey match at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 on Feb. 22, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea.
In this case, 13 is a lucky number.
That’s how many years Gigi Marvin spent as a member of the U.S. women’s hockey team before announcing her retirement on Dec. 16. They are years she will never forget.
“I was blessed with competing against the absolute best players for 13 years in the entire country,” Marvin said. “What our team accomplished … the past, I don’t know, four, five, six, seven years, it’s just been incredible the run Team USA has been on. Very fortunate on many levels, both athletically and competition-wise but also personally with the relationships that we built.”
The three-time Olympian was part of the U.S. team that won the 2018 gold medal in PyeongChang, South Korea. Marvin also earned silver medals in 2014 and 2010.
Marvin helped the U.S. to five world championship gold medals and two silver medals. Over her career, she tallied 24 goals and added 50 assists for 74 points in 126 games. She played both defense and forward.
“Gigi was a cornerstone of the U.S. Women’s National Team program for a long time,” Katie Million, director of women’s national team programs for USA Hockey, said in a statement. “Not many athletes earn the opportunity to play in three Olympic Games, along with countless world championships.
“She was obviously a terrific player and represented our country so well on the biggest stages. We thank her for not only being a big contributor to the success of our program, but for also for serving as a wonderful role model for aspiring young players throughout the country.”
After Warroad High School, Marvin skated for the University of Minnesota. She played more than eight seasons of professional hockey.
When the U.S. won the first Olympic gold medal in women’s ice hockey in Nagano, Japan, in 1998, then 9-year-old Marvin was watching. A dream was born that the 34-year-old has now realized.
“It’s hard to let go of something that you’ve been training for and dreaming of and just fixated on for decades,” Marvin said. “It’s not an easy transition, as all athletes mention when they move past their playing days into the next chapter of their life.
