2002, 2006, 2010 & 2014 Olympian - United States

@JulieChu13 / STATUS: SILVER - SOCHI 2014

OLYMPIC MEDALIST.  WORLD CHAMPION.  OLYMPIC FLAG BEARER.  COLLEGE GRADUATE.

Julie’s American dream began with the move of her grandmother as a single mother with three children from Hong Kong to the United States.  She and her siblings are the family’s first generation born here.  Ice hockey was not a sport with a legacy in her family prior to her brother Richard playing the game.  As an 8 year old, Julie had been introduced to figure skating and while fond of the ice, this was not for her and she wanted to play what her brother was doing.  Her parents gave in to the wishes of their daughter and her hockey career began in Bridgeport, CT.  Quickly, Julie established herself as one of the most promising stars and by the time she left Choate Rosemary Hall (CT) in high school and club hockey (Connecticut Polar Bears), she had four USA Hockey Girls National Championships and one regional prep championship under her belt.  The US National Team came calling on her and during her senior year, she had to make a hard decision to defer it (including being the student body President) and she became a full-time member of the Team during the 2000-01 season.

Since her journey with the US National Team began, Julie has become an integral part of the next generation of the program and has gone from being one of the rising stars to elder stateswoman that today’s younger players can look up to, get guidance from and see what it takes to be a major factor for the squad’s international success today.  Julie has competed in every major competition for the past nine years.  During this time, Julie went on to Harvard University and established herself as the preeminent player at the college level from leadership as a two-time Captain of the squad, to three-NCAA Frozen Four appearances, to setting the all-time NCAA Women’s Hockey scoring mark with 276 points during her career, to being a three-time All-American & Patty Kazmaier Award (the female hockey equivalent to the Heisman Trophy) her senior year at Harvard and the USA Hockey Female Athlete of the Year award in 2007.

While she had an amazing run at Harvard, Julie has had an accomplished run on the US National Team, since her journey began on it during her last year of high school, she has competed for the US National Team at the 2002 & 2006 Winter Olympics (Silver/Bronze) and on five World Championship teams (2 Gold/3 Silver).  From being one of the youngest to her gradual progression as one of the oldest members, you grow as an individual from your life experiences and this level of responsibility is something that leaders want to become a part of; Julie was named as an Assistant Captain for Team USA at the 2007 Worlds in Canada.  While the US did not win this time around, the groundwork was laid for brighter things to come at the 2008 World Championships in her grandmother’s homeland and for Julie this was to be the time to be front and center for her greatest triumph to date and come full circle for her family.

While the US was not favored to win and suffered a humbling defeat for the first time to Finland, Julie was able to convince her young teammates that the US could not only defeat Canada not once, but twice in the next three days to win Gold and secure the United States’ second World Championship.  Julie in those two games, played multiple positions to help make up for injuries and to stabilize the team.  In those final games, she had 2 assists in the semi-final and 1 assist in the final.  At the conclusion on the ’08 World Championships, Julie led the tournament in Defensive scoring, while also playing as a forward.  

At the ’09 Worlds, Julie was back playing her natural position upfront and led the tournament in scoring (tied with teammate Natalie Darwitz).  The US won its third World Championship and Julie was named by the international media’s to the All Tournament Team. Julie was named to her 3rd Olympic Team in December 2009 & named Assistant Captain at the Olympics for the 1st time in January 2010.

While her journey has just about every accolade available, Team USA fell short of their goal and lost the Gold Medal Game to host Canada in Vancouver.  Julie earned her second Silver Medal.

With many of her teammates beginning to retire, Julie has remained committed to her goal of winning an Olympic championship and added World Championships in 2011 & 2013.  Julie was named Team Captain of the US Women's National Team for the 2011-12 & 2012-13 seasons when it was then given to her teammate Meghan Duggan in November of 2013.  (Meghan was the team captain in 2010-2011).

Off the ice, Julie has been a featured athlete as part of the US Anti-Doping Agency’s stay clean campaign during the 2006 & 2010 Winter Olympics and she coaches/mentors girls’ hockey camps across the nation during the off-season.  After the Games, she has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity on home building initiatives as part of USOC’s team for tomorrow program.

Prior to the 2008 World Championships, Julie was an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota-Duluth and helped guide the team to the 2007-08 NCAA Women’s Hockey championship.  In June 2010, she was named as an assistant coach at Union College where she coached for 3 seasons, but resigned in May 2013 to begin the final stretch where the US National Team would be centralized in Boston from August 2013 to January 2014 leading up to the Olympic Games in Sochi.

Julie has balanced her collegiate coaching schedule while playing for the Montreal Stars in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League which is the highest women’s pro league.  Playing in Montreal, Julie was part of 2010-11 & 2011-12 Clarkson Cup championships, they lost in the final of the 2012-13 season to Boston.  During her women's pro career (formerly of the WWHL), Julie is the only athlete to capture the Clarkson Cup (the female equivalent to the Stanley Cup), three times (2 with Montreal and 1 with Minnesota).. 

Julie was named to the 2014 US Olympic Team during the NHL Winter Classic on NBC.  Her appearance in Sochi will make her the 4th male or female US Hockey player to participate in 4 Olympic Games, joining Chris Chelios ('84, '98, '02 & '06) Angela Ruggiero and Jenny Potter ('98, '02, '06 & '10).  The Winter Olympics did not turn out the way that Julie would have hoped with a loss to Canada in overtime 3-2 for her 3rd Olympic Silver medal.  At the same time, she received one of the biggest honors after the fact from her fellow Team USA Olympic teammates who selected her to carry the flag of the United States of America at Closing Ceremonies of the Games.

For the 2014-15 season and 2015-16 seasons she has stepped away from playing with the USWNT but has continued playing in the CWHL with the newly renamed Les Canadiennes de Montreal via a partnership with the NHL's Montreal Canadiens.  While not playing hockey she is the interim Head Coach of Concordia University (CIS Hockey) for the 2015-16 season.

December 31, 2015, Julie and her Les Canadiennes de Montreal squad had the opportunity to take part in the Inaugural Outdoor Women's Hockey Classic at the NHL Winter Classic in Foxboro, Massachusetts vs the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League.  The final score was 1-1, but as a trailblazer in the sport, the greater meaning was the advancement of the sport towards inclusion with the National Hockey League. 

Prior to the game Julie commented "When you step on the ice, there's always that awe moment, whether you want to admit it or not. It's just how quickly some of us who've had a chance to experience it a few more times, and maybe worked on the mental confirmation of that moment, we're able to shift out of that a little bit quicker and back to the focus of it."

Afterwards she framed it just right "As we were getting ready for the game, we were just a bunch of little kids," Canadiennes blue liner Julie Chu told reporters after the the first ever outdoor Women's Winter Classic. "I'd like to say we were completely focused, which we were, but there was probably a big kid in us that came out and it was awesome.  I think the greatest honour we can do is step on that ice and continue to make the most of that moment, and celebrate why everyone was a part of this day."

In June on 2016, Julie was named as the head coach of the Concordia University Stingers (Montreal, QC).  

Julie is an Athlete Ambassador for US Olympic Team partners British Petroleum, Citi, Ralph Lauren, Proctor & Gamble, Highmark (Blue Cross-Blue Shield) Insurance as well as Easton Hockey and will have trading cards during 2014 with Panini & Upper Deck.