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It all started in 1998.
The Nagano Winter Olympic Games, where women’s hockey made it’s debut, is where Team Canada defenceman Jocelyne Larocque ignited her own Olympic dream.
“To think back at that kid, she’d be so excited and proud of me and that means a lot to me and to be able to do something I love for so long, [I’m] just extremely grateful,” Larocque told CBC Sports reporter Karissa Donkin at the Olympic training camp in September.
Now at her fourth Games, the two-time Olympic champion and silver medallist has already made history.
The 37-year-old Métis athlete from Ste. Anne, Man., is the most decorated Indigenous athlete in Canadian history across both Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
Larocque was the first Indigenous woman to play hockey at the Olympics at Sochi 2014, then the first to win an Olympic gold medal at that same Games.
For Larocque, being an Indigenous role model on the world stage is an immense sense of pride.
“I celebrate my culture all the time, and I think it’s important for young people, Indigenous [or] not Indigenous, to be able to see it,” Larocque told CBC Sports.
“I think visibility creates dreams and I hope that what I can show is when you love something so much, to dream big and to chase those dreams, and that there’s always going to be setbacks and there’s always going to be adversity.
“But if you’re enjoying the journey and you’re enjoying every single day, it’s so worth it.”
Team Canada defender, who is a member of the Red River Métis, is the most decorated Indigenous Olympian in Canadian history, with three Olympic medals. She’s competing at her fourth Games.
Growing up with NHL dreams
As a kid, Larocque said there were few Indigenous hockey players to look up to.
“Growing up in this sport, a lot of men were our role models. I dreamed about playing in the NHL, and a lot of my teammates would have dreamed the same thing,” said Larocque, who is Red River Métis.
Larocque said it’s wonderful to now have the Professional Women’s Hockey League, where she plays for the Ottawa Charge. As a young female player, she said she often wondered where she belonged.
It was by playing with her older sister, Chantal Fritzsche, and her cousins, that gave her that strength. Fritzsche, who is 18 months older than Larocque, said everyone played hockey together while growing up their a close-knit community.
“I feel like hockey is definitely our family’s definition of love and togetherness for sure,” Fritzsche said.
Larocque had a successful collegiate career, playing four years in the NCAA at the University of Minnesota-Duluth where she was the team’s all-time scoring defender, All-American and Western Collegiate Hockey Association and NCAA champion.
Prior to the creation of the PWHL, she played in both the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, and before that, the Western Women’s Hockey League where she was a league champion.
Jocelyne Larocque, 37, and 18-year-old Chloe Primerano are both fighting for a spot on defence on Canada’s Olympic team.
She has also played in 12 world championships for Canada where she has won a medal at each one, including four gold medals.
“We’re so proud of her,” Fritzsche said.
“She puts in the work. There’s no days off for her whether she’s working out on those days or doing mental preparation.”
Larocque waited several years for her own Olympic dreams. She was cut from the Vancouver 2010 team — a difficult blow with the Games taking place in Canada — but was determined to not let it define her journey as a hockey player.
“I realized that I still want to play hockey because I love it, and I still want to chase this dream because I love it,” she said.
Larocque went on to make the Sochi Games, where she was part of the gold-medal team alongside other hockey legends like Hayley Wickenheiser, Caroline Ouellette and Jayna Hefford.
Larocque said she found out about being the first Indigenous woman to play hockey for Canada at the Olympics in Sochi during a post-game interview.
“I was like, ‘pardon? Like, what, that’s wild!,'” she said, honoured by the news.
The quest for 3rd gold
Larocque played in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang where Canada suffered a heartbreaking loss to the U.S. in the gold-medal match. She was then part of the team in Beijing in 2022 that reclaimed the gold for Canada.
Now at Milano Cortina 2026, Larocque’s game has grown with experience, something she hopes to share with the younger members of Team Canada, like her role models did for her.
Larocque’s former Ottawa Charge teammate Victoria Bach describes her as a “one of a kind” teammate. The two played together with the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres and were traded to the Charge where they became roommates.
“She’s the kind of teammate that makes everyone around her better,” Bach said.
“When you’re around Joce, she just makes the world a better place, and I always just find myself smiling, and I learned so much from her.”
Team Canada forward Blayre Turnbull told CBC Sports in September that Larocque is the “backbone” of the team.
“She’s so reliable, not only on the ice, but off the ice as well. The way that she conducts herself is so professional, but like she’s the kindest, most sincere teammate that we have,” Turnbull said.
“She means so much to this group.”
Canada entered the Olympic hockey tournament ranked second in the world behind the U.S., according to the International Ice Hockey Federation. After a disappointing shutout loss to the Americans on Tuesday, Canada will now look ahead to a quarterfinal matchup against Germany after regrouping to be Finland 5-0 and finish off round-robin play on Thursday.
Larocque said she wants to win a gold medal for her teammates, remembering what it felt like to win in Beijing 2022, where over half the team had never won an Olympic title — a feeling she said was “better than winning your first for yourself.”
“I want to win of course, for myself and my family and my friends and my community, but more so I want to win for them. So I’m going to do everything I can to win for this team and I’ll do anything to make that possible,” she said.
Inspiring the future
Along with making an impact on the ice, Larocque has made an even bigger one off of it.
In 2018, Larocque won the Tom Longboat Award which recognizes outstanding contributions to sport by Indigenous athletes in Canada. In 2021, she was honoured as the Manitoba Indigenous Female Athlete of the Decade.
Larocque has also worked with First Assist, an Indigenous run charity that helps students in communities find success in school through sport. Going into communities, she said young Indigenous athletes will come up to share their dreams.
“I see myself in them, and that’s what’s really neat, too,” she said.
Larocque said social media has made it possible for there to be visibility of Indigenous role models for younger generations
“You want people to be able to see someone similar to them living a similar dream,” she said.
“You need hope to chase dreams.”
WATCH | Larocque on her Métis heritage:
Bach, who is Mohawk from The Bay of Quinte First Nation, said one of her favourite moments with Larocque is playing in the all-Indigenous Fred Saskamoose “Chief Thunderstruck” National Hockey Tournament in the years before the PWHL was created.
“Sharing that with her and all the other up and coming Indigenous talent is something that was really special. I’ll never forget those tournaments,” Bach said.
“It just goes to show how important representation is.”
This Olympics are also a special one for Larocque’s family, as her sister’s three young children are in Milan to watch the women’s hockey tournament.
Fritzsche’s six-year-old son Nolan wants to be a goalie in the NHL. He has grown up watching his aunt play for Team Canada and now in the PWHL.
“All of his favourite players are females,” Fritzsche said.
“It’s amazing for him as a boy to choose female hockey players. So that’s pretty special in itself.”
Representation is important to Larocque, as both a female player and an Indigenous player. But her record as the most winning Indigenous Olympian is something she hopes won’t last too long.
“Records are meant to be broken. So I hope somebody breaks mine soon, and I hope multiple people do,” she said.
“You want to see Indigenous athletes excel. So I hope it’s a short time record, but it’s a record I’ll always be proud of, no matter if I’m holding it or not.”
