USA Hockey's Lamoureux twins, 2018 Olympic champions, retire

Monique Lamoureux-Morando and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, who won ice hockey gold for Team USA in dramatic shootout fashion at PyeongChang 2018, have retired from the sport.

The twins, who are 31 years old, were part of three Olympic teams for the U.S., winning silver at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 before their golden heroics in PyeongChang.

Lamoureux-Morando scored in the third period of the PyeongChang final to tie the game against Canada; Lamoureux-Davidson was equally important in the triumph against Canada – she scored the winning goal in the shootout.

The former is currently pregnant and expecting a baby next month, which has factored in to the twins' retirement decision.

"Since we fell in love with this game together — since we experienced so much of what hockey had to give us, side by side," Lamoureux-Davidson wrote for The Players' Tribune, "it's right that we go out together."

With less than a year to go to the Beijing 2022 Olympics, the schedule for Olympic hopefuls is ramping up.

"This year will be full of evaluations and camps," Lamoureux-Morando writes in the same Players' Tribune piece. "We know that our time experiencing all of that is over, and we are completely at peace with the decision. 

"Now there is so much more for us to look forward to. Our lives have expanded outside the rink into motherhood and other areas where our passions have grown. Now is the right time to say goodbye."

Fighting for more rights

Both women have been integral to the USA Hockey women's team over the last decade, not just as players but also as leaders.

The twins were key figures during the players' equal pay dispute with the governing organisation ahead of the 2017 World Championships, which led to the players calling a boycott before an agreement was reached.

"We felt as a group that if we didn’t take that step, things would never change," Lamoureux-Davidson explained.

"What the women who make up the USA Hockey program accomplished in the spring of 2017 is something that we should all be proud of forever. We dared to try to make history — and succeeded."

The contracts signed between the team and USA Hockey that year expire this April, and the twins want to make one last mark on women's ice hockey in the States.

"We're going to be involved in the (new contract) negotiations," Lamoureux-Morando told ESPN.

"Hopefully securing the next contact for the next group of players coming up will be our final stamp as players in the program."