OLYMPICS: Lamoureux twins finding ways to work and train

They held a 2-0 lead and were less than four minutes from winning an Olympic gold medal.

“You start to feel the gold medal around your neck,” Monique Lamoureux said.

That’s what made the stunning conclusion - Canada scored back-to-back goals to tie the game, then won in overtime - so hard to take for twin sisters Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux of Grand Forks.

They won their second Olympic silver medal in women’s hockey a couple of months ago in Sochi, Russia, becoming the first North Dakotans to win multiple Olympic medals. But it bothers the twins that neither of their medals is gold.

That’s one reason why, despite the fact that they have used up their college eligibility, they are setting their sights on playing for Team USA again.

“I can’t end on that note,” Monique said. “I’m not ready to be done in my heart. Even if we would have won, I still wouldn’t be done. It’s just really tough to figure out a way to train at an elite level when you are out of college. There is no league where you are getting paid. There is no ideal place to be.”

The Lamoureuxs are going to try, though. Their end goal is to make the 2018 Olympic roster and take another swing at gold in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

For the first time in their lives, their paths are going to be different.

Jocelyne is staying in Grand Forks, where she plans to work and train.

During the day, she will be a performance enhancement specialist with Altru, which is starting a sports medicine performance enhancement unit that will operate out of the same building as Choice Health and Fitness.

Jocelyne will focus on training athletes of all sports, not just hockey players.

“It’s a great opportunity,” said Jocelyne, who played several sports growing up in Grand Forks. “I’m very fortunate to be in this position. I’m going to start putting into place all the things I’ve learned through the years. I’ve worked with so many different strength coaches, it will be nice to utilize the things I’ve learned from each of them.

“I’m excited to work with the kids. I know that when I was little, I would have loved the opportunity to work with an Olympian. I’m excited to work with kids who want to train.”

She also will block off a couple of hours per day for her own training. She plans to use ice time at Ralph Engelstad Arena to keep her skills sharp and she will likely join her father’s Wednesday night city league team in the winter.

Monique, meanwhile, is doing an internship with Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning in Boston. She spent the month of May there and will be going back in July.

“I think us being apart will be harder on our parents than us,” she said.

There are a couple of opportunities each season to reunite with Team USA and play high-level games. In addition to summer camps, there is the Four Nations each November, featuring the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden.

In April, it’s the IIHF Women’s World Championship. Next year, the Worlds will be held in Malmo, Sweden. It will be in Canada in 2016 and Buffalo, N.Y., in 2017.

Jocelyne is currently rehabbing from shoulder surgery. She will marry former UND men’s hockey player Brent Davidson in June, then start looking toward the Four Nations Cup.

If things go well, they hope they will have a shot to erase the bad memories from Sochi.

“We were so close,” Jocelyne said. “In Vancouver (in 2010), we weren’t the better team. Canada kind of took it to us that whole year. This year, we were a better team. To be that close, it’s a lot more painful this time around.

“But as hard as it is sometimes, I try to keep things in perspective. Our impact can be so much greater than a gold medal. That’s been the biggest lesson I’ve learned.”