When the United States men’s hockey team earned gold at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, it was University of Michigan alum Zach Werenski who passed the puck to Jack Hughes just before he scored the tournament-winning goal in overtime. And as the rest of the team flooded the ice to celebrate, cameras caught players’ cheers set in front of a Block M flag hung in the stands — placed there by Austin Chapman, ’04.
“I thought, ‘What a once in a lifetime thing,’ but who would have thought. It’s going to be somewhere in my office, a picture of that golden goal with the flag in the background, just by chance that I hung it in the right spot when Jack Hughes shoots the puck into the net to win the gold medal,” Austin says.
Chapman and his wife, Meredith, narrowly scored tickets to the gold medal match while in Italy, having seen the U.S. men’s team defeat Sweden in the quarterfinals a few days prior. Hughes’ brother, Quinn, another U-M alum, had scored the overtime goal in that match.
“[It] was a fantastic overtime game, the best game — until the gold medal game — that I had been to in my life. And, obviously, a Wolverine scores the overtime winning goal with Quinn Hughes, so that was pretty cool to be a part of,” Austin says.
When the Olympics were announced to be in Italy, the Chapmans began planning their trip. They were already familiar with the area — the couple has now taken eight trips to Italy, including for their first vacation together and their honeymoon.
With events like skiing, snowboarding, and curling taking place in the mountains of Cortina — several hours’ drive away — the Chapmans picked up tickets for all the events they could in Milan, closer to where they were staying. They attended women’s short-track 1,500-meter speed skating, men’s short-track 5,000-meter speed skating relay, and three men’s hockey games, including the gold medal match and the U.S.’s semifinal game against Sweden. But going to the gold medal match was “sheer luck,” as the tickets proved incredibly sparse, even with other teams steadily being eliminated from competition.
At the match, Austin and Meredith weren’t sat rink-side, but climbed down to hang the flag several rows in front of them.
Meredith, who graduated from Western Michigan University and runs a travel blog and social media accounts, captured several photos of Austin with the flag at the Olympics. And as the Block M tends to do, Austin heard from a few people sitting near him about their U-M connections, including one father whose son is hoping to play hockey at U-M.
“Hearing those stories and seeing those reactions was pretty cool. As well as, as the players were skating around after they had won gold, I did get a point out from Zach Werenski and Dylan Larkin, and they were acknowledging the flag. That was pretty cool to see,” Austin says. Werenski and Larkin also played for U-M.
The Chapmans are season ticket holders for U-M football and hockey as well as the Detroit Red Wings and Lions, and Austin says watching U-M players become professional athletes has been one of the pleasures of following the program. But of all the incredible sports moments Austin has witnessed, he says the 2026 Olympics will be hard to beat.
“I’ve been fortunate over the course of my lifetime to be in a lot of memorable sporting events, and a lot of them, obviously, revolve around the University of Michigan. To be at that one, I don’t know how it’ll ever be topped, to be honest with you,” he says.
Back home in Michigan, Austin is already planning how to memorialize the event.
“I’m looking forward to finding some sort of freeze frame photo that I can plaster in my office and my house and prominently display it for all the Michigan State grads that walk through our front door,” he laughs.
Whether in Ann Arbor, Detroit, or on the other side of the world, Austin finds that one of the best ways for him to stay connected with his alma mater is through sports.
“One of the things that’s been very, very prominent in my family’s life is the University of Michigan. It’s kind of fulfilling to me, as a University that’s given me so much over the course of my lifetime, to have something as simple as a University of Michigan flag that’s displayed during a hockey game give other people joy and laughter and smiles,” Austin says. “It was something that I would have never imagined.”
Katherine Fiorillo is the senior editor of Michigan Alum.
