In most events, winning an Olympic medal of any colour should be cause for celebration.
The same could be said when you’ve been gifted an absolutely adorable stuffed animal.
But when you’ve just lost the gold-medal game in overtime to your biggest rival, well, you might not be so thrilled about the whole situation.
That’s what happened to Canada’s women’s hockey team on Thursday, who were just over two minutes away from defeating Team USA in the gold-medal game of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, before falling 2-1 in overtime.
And, when it came time for the medal ceremonies, Team Canada’s players appeared in no mood to celebrate their achievements, going viral in the process.
Cameras captured the disappointed faces of players as they were awarded their silver medals and handed a mini version of the Olympic mascot – a white stoat named Tina.
Their eye-rolls and looks of disgust quickly blew up on social media.
What are they saying on social media?
“Losing in OT then getting handed a consolation plushie on live ice is nasty work,” one user wrote on X.
“Ouch, that’s a rough way to celebrate a silver medal,” another fan wrote. “Team Canada deserved a bit more respect after that intense overtime battle.”
“Imagine training for decades just to win a stuffed animal,” a third user wrote.
Several users posted screengrabs of the players staring down their new stuffed animal companion.
One user shared that Daryl Watt’s reaction was their favourite.
Many were quick to point out that all Olympic medallists In Italy received their own little Tina stuffie, but in most events the competitors didn’t just suffer a devastating defeat.
What happened in the game?
During the gold-medal game at Santagiulia Arena in Milan, Canada performed much better than they did in their round-robin game against the U.S., during which the Americans scored a resounding 5-0 victory.
This time out the Canadians held firm, opening the scoring on a shorthanded goal by Kristin O’Neill in the second period.
Canada would hold on to that slim lead until just over two minutes remaining when American captain Hilary Knight scored with an extra attacker on the ice to even the game and send it to overtime.
During the 3-on-3 session, Megan Keller was able to pull off a dazzling deke to get free in the Canadian zone, beating goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens in close for the golden goal.