Now on the cusp of realising his Olympic dream, Canadian ice hockey star Connor McDavid nearly quit the sport following a serious knee injury back in 2019.
The Edmonton Oilers captain revealed in an Instagram post how he had to drag himself out of the “dark days” during the rehabilitation process. McDavid suffered a potential career-ending injury in the final game of the season.
“A moment that I wanted to quit is injuring my knee. It was a serious injury. Significant, long, long rehab, and a lot of dark days in there,” McDavid said.
“But it’s just a moment in time, when things heal, and things get better. You’ve got to enjoy the whole thing. It’s not just what you are going through, it’s part of the whole journey.”
He tore his posterior cruciate ligament, his medial and lateral menisci, the popliteus muscle, and suffered a tibial plateau fracture. McDavid completed an inspirational comeback following nearly six months of non-surgical rehab, emerging as one of the best in the world in the process.
The 29-year-old McDavid leads the NHL with 94 points, boasting 34 goals and 60 assists in 55 games during the 2025-26 season.
National Hockey League players will make their return to Olympic ice for both Milano Cortina and the 2030 Games. NHL players have previously participated in Olympic competition five times, taking to the ice at Nagano 1998, Salt Lake City 2002, Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.
McDavid, who missed out on participation in Beijing 2022, has voiced his excitement about finally reaching the pinnacle of the sport at the global showpiece.
“You always wonder. You never know if you’re going to get the opportunity,” McDavid told CBC.
“But obviously here we are. We’re getting ready to go and gearing up to go. I’m really excited about the opportunity.
“I just want to win a gold medal, that’s the only thing that matters. There are a lot of great players on that team. Everyone is going to play a role, everyone is going to play a part. The goal is just to win a gold, that’s it.”