Categories: RepresentationSEW

Summer of Gold: how the 1996 Olympics inspired a generation of female athletes

Alex Morgan was just seven years old when the 1996 Olympics took place in Atlanta. She watched Michelle Akers and Julie Foudy lead the US to the first-ever Olympic gold in women’s soccer, in front of 80,000 electrified fans. Foudy would not know of Morgan – now one of the most feared forwards in the world – for another decade, but she knew the world, including many young girls like Morgan, was watching.

“We approached the Olympics as here’s this wonderful opportunity and there’s no way – NO WAY – that someone’s gonna take that,” Foudy said in a video for Team USA.

Elsewhere at Atlanta ‘96, US point guard Jennifer Azzi and her teammates donned their gold medals, beaming from the Olympics’ highest podium after an exhilarating 8-0 run to the title. All the while, 13-year-old Sue Bird collected a dozen new role models and an infinite dose of possibility. Read More

admin

Recent Posts

How a Women’s College Volleyball Team Became the Center of the Transgender Athlete Debate

Not since the swimmer Lia Thomas has a college athlete or team put the fiercely…

9 months ago

Geno Auriemma becomes all-time winningest college basketball coach in 40th year at UConn

UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma passed Tara VanDerveer as college basketball’s all-time winningest coach…

10 months ago

Lindsey Vonn Plans a World Cup Return as She Rejoins the U.S. Ski Team

Five years ago, Lindsey Vonn retired from ski racing, largely because her aching right knee,…

10 months ago

New York Liberty win their first WNBA title and celebrate the end of a long odyssey

As confetti fell and Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blared through the arena, the…

11 months ago

Susie Maxwell Berning, Hall of Fame Golfer, Is Dead at 83

Susie Maxwell Berning, a three-time champion of the United States Women’s Open golf tournament who…

11 months ago

SafeSport shelves probe of former NWSL coach, sparking outcry

Once a dominant figure in girls’ and women’s soccer, Rory Dames in recent years has…

11 months ago