Darnell Nurse "very proud" of cousin Sarah Nurse for winning gold

Watching Sarah Nurse win hockey gold with Team Canada at Beijing 2022 was "a very proud moment" for her NHL-playing cousin Darnell Nurse.

Nurse scored the first goal as Canada beat USA 3-2 in the gold medal game on Thursday (17 February).

It was a second Olympic medal for the 27-year-old who won silver at PyeongChang 2018.

Nurse had a total of 18 points in the tournament, one more than the previous Olympic record held by Canada great Hayley Wickenheiser.

Darnell Nurse is a defenceman for the Edmonton Oilers and he reacted to Sarah's gold at a press conference broadcast by sportsnet.ca.

He said: "That's awesome. It's also a very proud moment when you have a family member playing [at] the Olympics for one... and win a gold medal and the tournament that Sarah's had, it was fun to watch. Start to finish - the whole tournament."

Ice hockey is a way of life for the Nurse family.

As well as cousin Darnell, Sarah's brother Isaac played for the Hamilton Bulldogs in the Ontario Hockey League as well as for the University of New Brunswick.

Her other brother Elijah was a member of the Glanbrook Rangers team in the Provincial Junior Hockey League in Canada.

Carrying on the sporting tradition, her father Roger Nurse played and refereed in the National Lacrosse League and with the Ontario Lacrosse Association.

Cousin Kia Nurse represented Canada in basketball and her uncle Donovan McNabb was one of the NFL's top quarterbacks in his time at the Philadelphia Eagles.

Darnell said: "I know my Uncle Roger and Aunt Michelle and my cousins Isaac and Elijah were on cloud nine too.

"They're family so it was awesome to see, fun to follow along the whole way.

"She earned everything - I hope they get to celebrate.

Darnell is in his seventh season