Hilary Knight named to Time 100 most influential people of 2026
Hilary Knight has been a formative figure for hockey in the United States and around the world for most of her career, and on Wednesday, those contributions were recognized by TIME Magazine.
Knight, who won gold with the USA at her final Olympic Games in February, was named as one of the 100 most influential people of 2026 by the magazine and is the lone hockey player on the list, which features six athletes.
She is one of just three women’s athletes, alongside snowboarder Chloe Kim and figure skater Alysa Liu. Men’s athletes include golfer Scottie Scheffler, F1 driver Lando Norris and sprinter Noah Lyles.
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani education activist and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, wrote Knight’s feature in the magazine, saying that Knight embodies that “playing a sport is more than competition—it’s a statement. With every game, the players are proving that women’s sports are an economy, a culture, a force.”
“Hilary advocated for better wages, investment in girls’ programs, and greater visibility for women’s teams.. She helped build the Professional Women’s Hockey League from the ground up—and ensured the road will be easier for the next generation.”
Alongside Knight and other athletes, the list of most influential people included several global leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Pope Leo XIV, as well as Artemis II astronaut Reid Wiseman and music stars Noah Kahan and Luke Combs, among others.
The TIME Magazine inclusion is the latest in an immense wave of public interest in Knight following the 2026 Olympics, which also saw her appear on Saturday Night Live and the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, as she embraced the gold medal moment despite struggling with injuries through her first season with the PWHL’s Seattle Torrent.
On the ice with the Torrent this season, Knight has three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 19 games, with the team now looking to accumulate Gold Plan points to secure the top PWHL Draft Pick, after falling out of Walter Cup Playoff contention with Tuesday’s loss to the Vancouver Goldeneyes.