The national champion defender is shooting for gold alongside former Badger star Hilary Knight
Caroline "KK" Harvey has had a unique year – split between Wisconsin women’s ice hockey and Team USA.
It started with Wisconsin winning the 2025 National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championship in epic fashion.
Then came Team USA’s overtime victory over Canada in the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship in April, where Harvey was named Best Defender.
From there, she has alternated between playing her senior year at Wisconsin and with the U.S. national team, bouncing from Madison to Canada to Cleveland to train and play.
In January, Team USA selected Harvey for her second Olympic Games. Before departing for Italy in mid-January for final Olympic preparation, she practiced and played with Wisconsin, leading her team with 37 season assists, 54 points and 6 power play goals in the 26 games she played. When she returns from the Olympics, she will jump into conference play before her last NCAA tournament. She’s also in class, although her professors have been very understanding.
"It’s a lot to balance," she admitted. "But it’ll be a great thing to look back on after this year and be like, ‘OK, we did that. That was a hard year, but we knew we could do it.’"
Alternating between the squads has its challenges, but she’s not alone. Her Wisconsin teammates Laila Edwards, Kirsten Simms and Ava McNaughton are also on the 2026 Olympic roster. (Meet the Wisconsin women’s ice hockey Olympians.)
"It’s been nice to have each other throughout this whole process," Harvey said.
Before starting her freshman year at Wisconsin, Harvey earned a silver medal with Team USA in the 2022 Beijing Olympics as the youngest player on the roster at 19. Her Olympics experience has helped her approach in college.
"It’s higher stakes (on Team USA), and it’s more intense. So when I get back to Wisconsin, it still is intense in a national championship game, but I’m able to be more cool-minded, so people can look to me in hard moments and know they can rely on me," she said. "When I go to USA, going through hard times or adversity or more feedback, people expect you to be at your best always. I learned from that and brought it back to Wisconsin."
Simms admires Harvey’s mindset.
"When you get to see what she does in her day to day and get to learn from her, not the pressure of it, but just the preparation for it, that’s pretty easy and fun to go off of," she said.
Harvey has also guided her teammates through the experience of becoming Olympians.
"It’s definitely really helpful," McNaughton said. "I’m in the spot she was in last Olympics, being the young player on the team and experiencing this first one. … That’s something KK was able to do at the 2022 Olympics, and so I’m just trying to emulate what she did and be able to follow in her footsteps."
Harvey has found her own inspiration and guidance from legendary Badger and Team USA star Hilary Knight.
Harvey specifically remembers that 2025 World Championship, where Knight had a hat trick in the final game.
"I expect nothing less, she’s just incredible, and I remember she single-handedly took over that game. Her leadership and character and the way she stayed up on the bench, even when it was a back and forth game … I just remember that moment was definitely a huge mentorship moment for me."
Knight complimented Harvey’s ability to step up in big moments, too.
"(KK has) done phenomenally so far. … (She) has just been a dominant force for so long," Knight said.
Going into her second Olympics, Harvey admits she feels like a completely different person.
"You mature a lot within the college experience, and you just go through a lot of different things that you didn’t expect. Now I just feel like I’m more level-headed, more mature and ready to take on whatever comes our way."
This Olympics, Harvey has gold on her mind.
"I’m definitely a lot more confident. My role was a lot different during the Beijing Games, and using that experience, being a sponge, soaking it all in, I feel like I can take a lot away from that. Now I’m excited. Our goal, and a personal goal, is to have a gold medal around our neck when we leave.
"Knowing all these training blocks we’ve been putting in preparation, we’ll be ready for that when the time comes."
