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.
At the subsequent medal ceremony, Jocelyne Larocque removed the silver medal that was draped around her, cupping it in her hand.
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.”
An Olympic official came over to tell her she was required to wear the medal but it wasn’t clear if she ever put it back around her neck, reported The Globe and Mail.
Now Larocque is apologizing for her action.
Canada's Jocelyne Larocque took off her silver medal immediately after receiving it. #WinterOlympics https://t.co/wS6s9ulmoA pic.twitter.com/CcjiKOd58W
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 22, 2018
“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.
The defensewoman said she takes being a role model seriously and is proud of her team’s efforts, reported CBC.
“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.”
From NTD.tv
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