From Health Struggles to Olympic Glory
Rory Guilday, the 23-year-old defender from Chanhassen, Minnesota, finally earned her spot on the U.S. Olympic women’s hockey roster after being cut from the 2025 world championship team. A little over a month ago, national team director Katie Million called Guilday to confirm her selection. “You earned your spot,” she recalled hearing, leaving her in complete shock.
Guilday kept the news to herself, even from her parents, until she could process it. “I felt good about my play, and I felt like I showed what I needed to show,” she said. “Anything after that was just, if it happened, it happened.”
Early Challenges and Health Battle
Guilday’s path to the Olympics wasn’t easy. Around age 12, a routine eye test revealed an optic nerve glioma—a benign tumor threatening her vision. She endured nine months of chemotherapy, spending up to eight hours a day in the hospital. The treatment saved her left eye but left her right eye mostly blind.
“Chemotherapy is really hard on the body and soul, and the people around you,” Guilday said. “I lost a ton of my strength. Stepping on the ice, feeling like I couldn’t even hold myself up, that was devastating.”
Return to Hockey and Adaptation
After nearly a year away from competitive play, Guilday returned to high school hockey. She relearned to skate and adapted to her vision changes. Her left eye now guides her movements with 20/15 “eagle eye” vision, letting her play confidently on the ice.
She has since competed on world championship teams in 2022, 2023, and 2024 while attending Cornell. Last June, she was drafted fifth overall by the PWHL’s Ottawa Charge.
Olympic Dreams Realized
Guilday grew up watching the Olympics with her three siblings, waving a homemade tin-foil torch. On Thursday, she will play her first Olympic game when the U.S. faces Czechia at 10:40 a.m. ET, broadcast on USA Network and Peacock. Her family will be in Italy to cheer her on.
Coach John Wroblewski praised her growth, noting she matured in her defensive instincts after learning from her 2025 experiences. Guilday said her past struggles make her appreciate every moment on the ice. “It makes you really appreciate when you do get to play,” she said.
