This Latino Made History as First Mexican-American to Win Olympic Gold in Hockey

The United States’ improbable men’s hockey gold medal has brought with it quite a few interesting storylines. There’s Jack Hughes scoring the decisive goal in overtime. There’s the fact that this is the US’s first Olympic Gold since the 1980’s “Miracle on Ice.” There’s the fact that the U.S. beat Canada, their eternal rival. And there’s Auston Matthews becoming the first Mexican-American to win Olympic Gold in hockey.

Matthews, who plays as a center for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL and is widely considered one of the best players in the world, was part of the US team that achieved a remarkable comeback to win gold. And Matthews, whose mom is from Hermosillo, Mexico, is the first Mexican-American to win gold in a sport where our communities don’t really have much representation. 

Not just representation, either. Matthews wore the C, for Captain, for the United States, and finished the tournament with seven points in six games, including an assist in the gold medal game. And his resume before stepping into this big role spoke for itself. Matthews boasted multiple scoring titles, has been named an NHL All-Star multiple times, and won the Calder Trophy for Best Rookie in 2017 and the Hart Memorial Trophy for Most Valuable Player in 2022.

And in these Olympics, he was crucial to his team’s win.

Matthews is not the first player from our communities to ever compete in hockey at an Olympic level. Scott Gómez was part of the US team in 2006, though his team didn’t make it to the medal games. Bill Guerin, of Nicaraguan descent, was part of the team that won silver in 2002 (and helped put together this team that won gold). 

Derek Parra earned gold in the 1,500 meters and silver in the 5,000 meters in speed skating at Salt Lake City 2002. He was also of Mexican descent.