After the loss, the Canada participants were awarded with silver medals placed around their neck. But Larocque immediately took hers off, and continued to not wear it for the rest of the ceremony.
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She told reporters after the game why she didn’t want to wear the second-place medal.
“Just hard. We were going for gold,” she said, via The Globe and Mail. When asked if the silver was any consolation she responded, “I mean, yeah. Once we reflect. But now, not at the moment.”
That same report claims an official told her later she had to wear the medal and couldn’t refuse it.
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From The Globe and Mail:
Several people noticed her refusal to wear the medal, and had some critiques for her on social media. Although not everyone was mean-spirited. Others understood her frustration immediately following a close loss.
Few people witnessed it, but there was Larocque, tears welling up in her eyes, holding her unwanted silver medal, being told by a man in a suit about the “legal” reasons why she can’t refuse to wear it. This was the Olympics, the official from the International Ice Hockey Federation explained. It doesn’t matter how sad you are. Or how angry, or disappointed. There are rules.
