Karyn Lynn Bye-Dietz (born May 18, 1971) is a retired

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. She was the alternate

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

gold-medal winning

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Women's Hockey Team. In 1998, she was featured on a Wheaties box. She entered the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

in 2011 and was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.

Playing career

Early years

Born May 18, 1971, in

River Falls, Wisconsin River Falls is a city in Pierce County, Wisconsin, Pierce and St. Croix County, Wisconsin, St. Croix counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is adjacent to the River Falls (town), Wisconsin, Town of River Falls in Pierce County and the Kinnic ...

, Bye-Dietz played for the River Falls Wildcats Boys High School Hockey team under the name of K.L. Bye to conceal her sex. Although her father encouraged her to continue playing basketball, as she had done growing up, Bye-Dietz continued to play hockey. The 1987–88 season she recorded 3 assists in her 18 games playing Junior Varsity Hockey Her athletic ability and play earned a scholarship to the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

NCAA

Bye-Dietz played for the

New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey The New Hampshire Wildcats represent the University of New Hampshire. They have won five ECAC championships between 1986 and 1996. When the Wildcats joined Hockey East, they won four Hockey East titles from 2006 to 2009. The Wildcats have more win ...

program. She scored 164 points in 87 games for the Wildcats, leading the team all four years. As captain of the team during her junior and senior season, she twice led the Wildcats to the ECAC championships. Bye-Dietz graduated from New Hampshire with a B.S. in physical education. From there, she attended graduate school at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

in Montreal. She played for the Concordia Stingers women's ice hockey team while earning a graduate degree in sports administration.

USA Hockey

Bye-Dietz made her national team debut with Team USA at the

1992 IIHF Women's World Championship The 1992 IIHF Women's World Championships was held April 20–26, 1992, in Tampere in Finland. The Team Canada won their second gold medal at the World Championships, defeating the United States. Qualification The tournament was held between eigh ...

. From there, she competed in five more tournaments, winning silver in all. In 1998, Bye-Dietz led the Team United States to their first Olympic gold medal at the

in Nagano. She led the team with five goals in six games and tied

Cammi Granato Catherine Michelle Granato (born March 25, 1971) is an American former ice hockey player and one of the first women to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November 2010. She currently works as an assistant general manager for the Vancou ...

and two others for the scoring lead with eight points. She competed with Team USA again at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

where they won a silver medal. On December 16, 2010, she was selected to the

International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Inter ...

Class of 2011.

Personal

Bye-Dietz has worked for the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

in its grassroots program. She teaches fitness classes at her local YMCA and previously coached her son's Mite Level 1 hockey team. , she is also a color commentator for the Minnesota Girls State High School Hockey Tournament. Bye-Dietz married a strength and fitness coach at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, and they have two children together. In 1998, Bye-Dietz was featured on a Wheaties box.

Awards and honors

*1995

Fittest Female Athlete * 1995 and 1998 USA Hockey Women 's Player of the Year Award (also known as the Bob Allen Women's Player of the Year award) * She was inducted into the University of New Hampshire Hall of Fame in 1998.

References

External links

Karyn Bye's U.S. Team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bye-Dietz, Karyn 1971 births American women's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey players from Wisconsin IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Living people Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey People from River Falls, Wisconsin Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics