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The Canadian Olympic Committee says it’s concerned after Team Canada’s women’s hockey team captain Marie-Philip Poulin was barred from speaking French at a press conference following her team’s gold-medal loss to the U.S.
The incident occurred on Thursday, when a moderator at the post-game press conference asked everyone to speak in English, after a reporter started asking Poulin a question in French, according to the COC’s director of communications, Vanessa Lee. She called the event “unacceptable” in a statement to CBC News.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says there was an issue with interpretation that day.
“The Milano Cortina 2026 Venue Media Manager apologized to the person concerned immediately after the press conference and did so once again yesterday,” the IOC wrote in a statement.
“We are very sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused.”
The IOC’s official languages are French and English.
Poulin was born in Quebec City and grew up in Beauceville, Que. She moved to Montreal at 16 to learn English, according to her COC biography.
Taking to X, Parti Québécois MNA Pascal Bérubé called the incident an “ultimate injury,” echoing the words of Quebec sports journalist Luc Gélinas.
Bérubé said he called on Quebec’s Minister of Sports Isabelle Charest “to immediately shed light on this serious incident, which is of great concern to all Quebecers and especially to our athletes who have the right to excel and triumph in their own language,” he wrote.
Poulin, for her part, says she won’t be commenting on the matter.
Canada’s men’s hockey team lost the gold medal in overtime to the U.S. on Sunday morning.