In a few weeks, the U.S. Women’s National Team will begin its quest for yet another World Cup title, and the countdown clock on Megan Rapinoe’s career will begin, as she has confirmed that her fourth World Cup will, indeed, be her last.
As a player, her record speaks for itself. Footage of her powerful and precise cross to Abby Wambach’s head, saving the team from what would have been a shocking World Cup quarterfinal exit in 2011, is all anyone should ever need to get out of bed in the morning. She has two World Cup titles, an Olympic gold medal, and a Ballon d’Or. At the 2019 World Cup, she nabbed both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball. She’s one of seven American women to have over 50 goals and 50 assists for the national team. She was even, for a few brief and shining minutes on Wikipedia, listed as “President of the United States of America.”
But her legacy off the field has proven to be just as inspiring — and not just because of whatever color she has decided her close shorn hair should be. Last summer, it was no surprise that Rapinoe was among the first to publicly react when the Dobbs decision came down from the Supreme Court. While her fiancé, basketball great Sue Bird, tweeted a simple “gutted” at the news, Rapinoe used about half an hour of a pre-game presser — one where she was not scheduled to speak — to emotionally express her contempt for the judgement, dubbing it “oddly cruel” considering the pomp and circumstance surrounding the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Rapinoe had been one of some 500 athletes who signed onto an amicus brief arguing for the preservation of Roe v. Wade, stating that they were united in what they described as a “deeply-held belief” that without reproductive justice, women would not be able to fully capitalize on opportunities provided by Title IX, and thus “women’s athletics could not have reached its current level of participation and success.”
Her conviction fell in line with the trajectory that she has been on for some time. In September, 2016, she became the first white athlete of note to take a knee in solidarity with football player Colin Kaepernick, which pushed U.S. soccer to rewrite its rules for national play, specifically instructing players to stand. Indeed, Rapinoe has often presented herself not just as an ally, but as an anti-racism accomplice. In 2019, she famously announced that she would not — and she used far more colorful language than I can here — accept an invitation to Trump’s White House, provoking a Twitter tantrum from the man himself, who chided her for disrespecting both country and flag — “especially,” he wrote, “since so much has been done for her & the team.”
The irony, of course, is that Rapinoe — and her teammates — were in the process of suing their own federation for equal pay.
I once dubbed Rapinoe a “walking example of intersectionality” — someone who cannot be defined by just one aspect of her identity. In addition to her work for racial justice, she has been an outspoken LGBTQ+ advocate, a supporter of trans rights, and a key player in the creation of the team’s unprecedented new agreement with the federation.
So regardless of what happens when the U.S. yet again takes on the world this summer, Rapinoe leaves the international game with as much as any athlete could ask for. And while I have no doubt that she will continue to put her Presidential Medal of Freedom to good use, advocating for causes that are right and just, let’s hope that a few more balls leave her feet and land in the box, giving us more chances to adore her as she pauses to rejoice with arms spread wide, chin up, colorful head back — an athlete who revels in the moment every single time it happens, committed to a celebration fit for the goddess that we know her to be.
Amy Bass is professor of sport studies and chair of the division of social science and communication at Manhattanville College. Bass is the author of ONE GOAL: A COACH, A TEAM, AND THE GAME THAT BROUGHT A DIVDED TOWN TOGETHER, among other titles. In 2012, she won an Emmy for her work with NBC Olympic Sports on the London Olympic Games.
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