The luckiest Olympians get something to take home with them. That’s apparently also true of Olympic spectators, as one North Hills High School sophomore found out.
Joseph “Trip” Cillo was visiting Italy with his family for the 2026 Milano Cortina games and was in the arena as the U.S. women’s ice hockey team took the fight to defending champions Canada. When Canadian defender Ella Shelton flipped the puck over the glass, Cillo was perfectly positioned to make his own Olympic snag.
Television networks captured the grab and Cillo shouting “I got it!” to cheers from the crowd.
That game, of course, ended in overtime with a United States victory after an undefeated run. The U.S. women’s gold medal was their first since the 2018 Pyeongchang games and their third Olympic championship overall.
Cillo said it was exciting to be a small part of the gold medal matchup.
“I know this wasn’t intentional, but it’s nice to be a part of an important thing in the Olympics,” he told TribLive.
The Cillos also caught the men’s bronze medal game — but not their puck — while in Milan.
The North Hills School District, which shared the video of Cillo’s catch on social media, expressed pride in Cillo and called the catch “the experience of a lifetime.”
“Witnessing a gold medal victory is special. Leaving with a game puck makes it even better,” district spokesperson Heather Pelat said in a release. “We are #nhproud to celebrate Trip’s incredible Olympic moment!”
