Canadian Olympic hockey star Claire Thompson retires to resume medical career

The pull to return to medical school prompted decorated Canadian hockey player Claire Thompson to announce her retirement Thursday.

The 28-year-old defender from Toronto, who won Olympic and world championship gold and a Professional Women’s Hockey League title, was back at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine to pursue her goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

“It was a long time coming,” Thompson said Thursday. “I definitely knew my goal was to become a doctor, and just thinking about the timeline to get there and eventually to become an orthopedic surgeon, I knew kind of going into this last year and into this summer that my plan was to return to school and continue down that path.”

Thompson was a revelation at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where she set a tournament record in points by a defender with two goals and an 11 assists. Thompson, who also led all players in plus-minus at 23, was named to the tournament all-star team.

Her invitation to centralize in Calgary in the months leading up to Beijing — she helped Canada win a world championship in Calgary during that span — was Thompson’s first real stint with the national team.

Thompson earned silver with Canada at the 2023 and 2025 world championships, as well as February’s 2026 Olympic Games in Italy.

“I really just feel very fortunate to have been on very successful teams. Hockey is a team sport after all,” Thompson said. “It really involves being in the right place at the right time, surrounded by the right people. I just feel a lot of gratitude to have been able to experience all those things.”

She compiled seven goals and 32 assists in 63 career games for Canada.

Thompson pressed pause on medical school in 2024 after two years of studies to go all-in on hockey. 

She won a Walter Cup with the PWHL’s Minnesota Frost before she became the first signing in Vancouver Goldeneyes history. 

Thompson had eight goals and 27 assists in 58 games over her two PWHL seasons. She contributed six assists in eight playoff games to the Frost’s championship in 2025.

“I feel very grateful to have had a very successful career, but I feel like I’m most proud of the work that was done by everyone during my time,” Thompson said. 

“Where professional women’s hockey was when I was starting hockey and where it is at today, and to be able to play any small role in the development of professional women’s hockey in North America, is something that I’ll always be very proud of.”

She was invited to Canada’s October selection camp ahead of the world championship, but declined her invitation.

“I definitely do still feel physically very able to compete at a high level, but for me, after two years of medical school, I was very confident that I wanted to become a surgeon, and that is at minimum a five-year residency program,” Thompson explained. “While I am only 28, it’s a long journey to get to that point. 

“Professional women’s hockey is in a very good place right now, and so I felt very confident and being able to step away.”

Thompson hopes this season to shadow the New York Sirens orthopedic surgeon Spencer Stein, who is an NYU alumnus, and perhaps one day help players resume their careers after the operating table.

“That’s a long, long way away from being at all qualified to do any of that, but you know, that is definitely something that I would love to do one day to stay involved in sports and specifically women’s ice hockey,” Thompson said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2026.