After 12 years, the U.S. women’s national team is back on top at the Olympics.
The USWNT has historically dominated the Games — the U.S. has five gold medals since women’s association football became an event at Atlanta 1996, all other countries have combined for three — but recently had been on a relative dry streak with regard to Olympic success. Entering Paris, the USWNT’s last gold medal had been at the 2012 London Games, despite the team having won two World Cups in that timeframe.
On Saturday, the U.S. struck gold once again, with Mallory Swanson’s 57th minute goal and Alyssa Naeher’s heroics in net making the difference. The achievement makes recently-appointed head coach Emma Hayes the second USWNT coach in history — Pia Sundhage being the other — to win a major tournament within 365 days of being hired, per ESPN Stats & Information.
The sports world was quick to take to social media with plenty of reaction to the USWNT returning to glory:
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/ZOBYt6PO9U
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) August 10, 2024
🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🥇!! CONGRATS LADIES 🇺🇸 https://t.co/1satfjD6FO
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 10, 2024
Congratulations to the #USWNT. Welcome back. 🇺🇸⚽️🏅#olympics pic.twitter.com/0EetdXMmdD
— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) August 10, 2024
Alyssa Naeher you are out of this world!
— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) August 10, 2024
Congratulations to the Paris 2024 #OlympicGames Women’s Soccer Gold Medalists, Team USA! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/Wg7KygL7Fj
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) August 10, 2024