The Canadian hockey player who yanked off the silver medal placed around her neck during a medal ceremony this week apologized for removing it.
Footage and pictures from the scene in South Korea went viral after the United States managed to upset the powerful Canadian women’s hockey team to win gold.
She was the only member of either team to not wear a medal.
After the emotional loss, Larocque was asked why she couldn’t wear the medal.
“Just hard,” she said. “We were going for gold.” When asked if the silver medal was any consolation, she responded, “I mean, yeah. Once we reflect. But now, not at the moment.”
Now Larocque is apologizing for her action.
“I want to apologize,” Jocelyne Larocque said in a statement released Friday, Feb. 23, from the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea. “In the moment, I was disappointed with the outcome of the game, and my emotions got the better of me. I meant no disrespect—it has been an honor to represent my country and win a medal for Canada.”
While the Canadians lost the gold medal in South Korea, they won gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
“My actions did not demonstrate the values our team, myself, and my family live and for that I am truly sorry,” she said.
The manager of the team said in a statement that Larocque didn’t mean to be disrespectful.
And her uncle said that people criticizing her weren’t completely fair.
“At that point, when you know, you’re completely exhausted, emotionally exhausted, it’s not what she wanted around her neck,” Norm Larocque said.
“I’m 100 percent positive she didn’t want to offend anybody by doing that. It was just an emotional reaction, I’m 100 percent sure of that.”
