There are athletes who are great, and then there are athletes who transcend the sport entirely. Marie-Philip Poulin is in a category of one.

In Milan on Sunday, the Canadian captain scored twice against Switzerland in a semi-final victory, pushing her career Olympic goal total to 20. Twenty. That number alone should stop you in your tracks. It is the most goals by any player in women's Olympic ice hockey history. It surpasses Hayley Wickenheiser - the great Wickenheiser, the player who redefined what a female hockey player could be - as the all-time leader among Canadian women. And it makes Poulin the top scorer in all of Olympic ice hockey since 1998, across both the men's and women's tournaments.

Let that sink in. Not just the women's side. All of Olympic hockey. Since the NHL first sent players to the Nagano Games. Poulin has scored more goals at the Olympics than any player in the modern era of the sport.

The first of Sunday's goals came at 1:49 of the second period, assisted by Sophie Jaques and Daryl Watts, to break a scoreless tie. The second goal followed at 8:21 of the same frame, again assisted by Watts along with Ella Shelton, extending the lead to 2-0. Classic Poulin - both goals in the decisive period, both in situations that demanded leadership, both delivered with the kind of calm authority that has made her the most decorated player in the history of the women's game.

And here's the thing about Poulin that goes beyond the numbers. This woman scores in gold-medal games. She scored the tying goal in the third period of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics final against the United States. She scored the overtime winner. She scored in the 2014 Sochi gold medal game. She has written the defining chapters of Canadian women's hockey with her stick, on the biggest nights, in the biggest moments.

Now she's done it again in Milan. Now she's chasing one more gold, one more legendary moment to add to a legacy that is already untouchable.

"She just got #20 too," came the simple acknowledgment from fans watching history unfold - understated words for an utterly extraordinary achievement.

I started in local radio in Cleveland in the nineties, and I have watched thousands of athletes in my career. I know greatness when I see it. Marie-Philip Poulin is not just the greatest player in women's hockey history. She is one of the great athletes of her generation, full stop.

That's what sports is all about, folks.