BEIJING — Kristen Campbell stood alongside her teammates and belted out the words to 'Oh Canada' on Thursday morning.
When the song ended, she grabbed the new Olympic gold medal that hung around her neck, gave it a kiss and let out a big smile.
The former UND goaltender achieved a lifelong dream.
Canada beat the United States 3-2 in a down-to-the-wire gold-medal game in Beijing, giving the Canadians the 2022 Winter Olympic title.
Campbell, who served as a backup goalie to starter Ann-Renee Desbiens, joined her teammates on the ice for a celebration she had long dreamed about.
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During her college recruiting process, Campbell told UND assistant coach Erik Fabian that was her goal.
"She said, 'I want to play in the Olympics,'" Fabian recalled. "She wanted to be there. That's what drove her. She wanted to be the best."
Campbell, of Brandon Man., played two seasons at UND before the program was cut in 2017.
Campbell opted to stay to spend the spring and summer of 2017 working with Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando. She was the final player to leave Grand Forks after the program was eliminated.
The Lamoureux twins went on to win Olympic gold the next year. Now, Campbell has her Olympic gold, joining the Lamoureux twins as the only UND women's hockey players to bring home Olympic gold.
Since leaving UND, Campbell has won just about all of the sport's biggest prizes.
She led Wisconsin to the 2019 NCAA national championship, becoming the first goaltender to complete the tournament without allowing a single goal. Campbell was named the Most Outstanding Player.
Campbell also won World Championship gold in 2021 with Canada.
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Now, she has Olympic gold, too.
"She deserves it," Fabian said. "She's deserved it ever since she was trying to make U18 teams. She's made herself ready for it. She's fulfilled a dream."
UND women's hockey Olympic medalists
2010 Vancouver
Silver — Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Monique Lamoureux-Morando (USA)
Bronze — Michelle Karvinen (Finland)
2014 Sochi
Silver — Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Monique Lamoureux-Morando (USA)
2018 PyeongChang
Gold — Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Monique Lamoureux-Morando (USA)
Bronze — Michelle Karvinen, Susanna Tapani, Emma Nuutinen (Finland)
2022
Gold — Kristen Campbell (Canada)
Bronze — Michelle Karvinen, Susanna Tapani (Finland)
