Claire Thompson is not a typical hockey player. She's one of Canada’s best, an Olympic gold medalist and world champion — and a full-time medical student at NYU. 'There's a lot to get done every day,' she tells hailey_salvian. Read more:
She doesn’t leave for practice like most hockey players do in the morning; that will come later. She doesn’t go to the gym either, not until she finishes class for the day. But Thompson is not a typical hockey player. She’s one of Canada’s best, an Olympic gold medalist and world champion — and a full-time medical student at New York University.
“She told me she was going to be a cardiothoracic surgeon,” said Morey, the head coach of the Princeton women’s hockey team. “And this is at 16 years old.” As a freshman, Thompson was good. She improved in Year 2. By her third season “she was outstanding,” Morey said. And though Thompson was no longer focused on making Team Canada, Morey knew it was still possible. As a coach with Canada’s under-22 development team, Morey encouraged Team Canada management to have a look at her smooth-skating, puck-moving No. 1 defender. Having Morey as an advocate certainly helped.
With a renewed opportunity to pursue hockey at the elite level, Thompson decided she could make both work. After graduating with departmental high honors, she spent the year training with other Team Canada athletes in Toronto. In May 2021, around the same time she began her medical school application process, Thompson was chosen to the tryout rosters for the 2021 women’s world championships and 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“To see her in the span of a year go from making her first senior team to breaking records at the Olympics was really cool,” Canadian teammate Emily Clark said. When she returned from Beijing, Thompson knew she would be heading to New York in the fall for medical school. But as she spent some rare downtime reflecting on her journey and her goals for the next four years, Thompson decided she didn’t just want to graduate with a medical degree.
“Is this the Claire Thompson that I’ve seen on TV?” he asked. “The one who just won a gold medal and was the best defender for Team Canada?”“I immediately cracked open the ACHA rulebook to see if we could find a spot for her on the team ,” he said. “I was just so excited. A player of that caliber to be involved in your program is just a really special opportunity for me as a coach and for all of our players. My No. 1 priority was making sure she had a place to continue to hone her skills.
An “ideal” day for Thompson begins with an early wakeup — typically before 7 a.m. — to study flashcards for the biweekly exams. By 9, she starts to go over the day’s lectures, which are posted online; sometimes she will go to the in-class lecture, but she prefers to do them remotely. Around 3 p.m., Thompson will do a strength workout from her program provided by Hockey Canada staff, followed by more studying and schoolwork.
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