“This team has been through a lot”: How the USWNT navigated a 12 months of change and won Olympic gold

PARIS — As the ultimate whistle blew, Crystal Dunn thankfully dropped to her knees and pounded the grass along with her fists. The bench emptied onto the sphere, the stadium — the fans who had long been waiting for a fifth Olympic gold medal — erupted in cheers. But in that moment, Dunn was alone, reflecting on her own path up to now.

“You think about all the sacrifices you've made,” she said. “Yes, this game is tough, but it's not just this game. It's everything you've been through. It's the whole tournament, the preparation.”

For Dunn, it's not nearly last 12 months's preparations after that program endured a historically disastrous early exit from the 2023 World Cup. It's not only in regards to the last three months, when latest head coach Emma Hayes was finally named to guide the U.S. Women's National Team. For Dunn, the player with the longest history on the senior national team, it's about the whole lot she's been through since 2013. The rosters she made, the rosters she didn't make. The tournaments they won and, much more often, the tournaments they didn't win. The ups and downs. The injuries. The comebacks. Everything.

And on Saturday night on the Parc des Princes – after sacrifices and a number of constructing, with a 1-0 win over Brazil on the scoreboard and 106 minutes of drained legs under her belt – Dunn finally stood on the highest Olympic podium, a gold medal on her chest.

As the team waited to be honored, they chatted amongst themselves: What should they do after they're up there? They're imagined to do something as a team, right? Not just stand up there and stand? The Germans were introduced as bronze medalists. Then the Brazilians, who did the identical with the silver medal. Finally, 12 minutes and far discussion later, the gold medalists were asked to step onto the rostrum. The Americans held hands, threw them within the air and bowed. It was not quite in unison, a subtle and fitting reminder that it is a team and a bunch of players not necessarily practiced at standing on podiums and accepting medals. They turned and waved to the fans behind them, then back to the front where their names were read. One by one, the players were awarded their gold medals.

Hayes stood to the left, watching. The field was finally completely shaded from the sun that had beaten down on all of it day, and Hayes, in her black suit, couldn't take her eyes off her team.

Seventy-nine days ago she named her Olympic team. Seventy-two days ago she had her first Olympic practice. And now they were back on the rostrum, a spot that had eluded more experienced, more cohesive and more famous American teams than the one she had assembled. But none of those teams since 2012 had gotten the job done like this team.

She raised her fist to her team.

It's no surprise that the U.S. women's soccer team is back here, but that it was this group, this coach and, above all, this pace, is just incredible. In Hayes' tenth game at the highest of the group, they’re Olympic champions again.

The last time the Americans stood on the Olympic podium – on the 2012 London Games – there was no NWSL within the United States. Women's Professional Soccer, the latest league within the States, had announced its suspension eight months earlier. The team's youngest member – 19-year-old Jaedyn Shaw – had just finished kindergarten. Captain Lindsay Horan had just decided to present up her college profession – a rare decision for American women at the moment – to sign with Paris Saint Germain. And Hayes had been named the brand new coach of Chelsea Women during that Olympic break.

A 12 months and 4 days before that team won Olympic gold again, the Americans suffered their first international elimination – a penalty shootout against Sweden within the World Cup round of 16. After the sport, Horan said the team had not brought out the most effective in each individual. They weren’t properly prepared, the players were tense and “just didn't enjoy the soccer or the individual game,” she said on the “RE-CAP Show” last 12 months.

Then Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz retired. Two key players on the national team were gone. When Hayes announced her Olympic squad last month, other cornerstones of the team were missing; neither Alex Morgan nor Becky Sauerbrunn made the choice. The group was in disarray, and the 18-man roster included only three players – Dunn, Alyssa Naeher and Rose Lavelle – who had previously appeared in a serious tournament final. Those three helped the U.S. win the 2019 World Cup.

During the dry spell of major tournament wins that followed, they were criticized. They went through three head coach changes, which led to further criticism. And when Hayes got here into the team, the players began to play with and exude more joy. Even for that, they were criticized.

“This team has been through a lot,” Trinity Rodman said. “Different coaches, losses, things off the field. And now to be here – such a great group, such a great coach. I'm just impressed with how hard everyone has worked to get here.”

Rodman, 22, was considered one of the youngest players named to that final roster and a part of the three-man goal machine together with Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson – nicknamed “Triple Espresso” – that reignited an offensive energy the USWNT had lacked lately. The trio scored or assisted on 11 of the team's 12 goals on the Olympics, with each taking turns to shine within the knockout rounds.

First it was Rodman in additional time against Japan within the quarterfinals. Then it was Smith in additional time against Germany within the semifinals. And finally it was Swanson in the ultimate. She had one likelihood in the primary half that she missed. When the proper ball got here within the 57th minute, she yelled at Smith (who was offside) to get out of the best way (“It was scary,” Smith joked, “I didn't see her coming until she screamed”).

Rodman had promised to not cry in the event that they won, and she or he broke that promise almost immediately. She said she was mostly completely satisfied for everybody else – for Naeher, who despite her incredible play is usually ignored due to her quiet demeanor; for Swanson, who suffered an injury 18 months ago that kept her out of motion for 11 months, including the World Cup; for Naomi Girma, whose consistency on the back line made everyone else look higher throughout the journey.

They cried. They cheered. They hugged one another and Hayes. They even outran their very own security guards to herd their families into the front row of the stadium.

The American women are champions once more. Through long and short paths, through open and hidden battles, they’ve made it to the highest of the Olympic podium.

“I always believe this team can do absolutely anything,” Dunn said. “When we're playing our best, when everything is going well, when everything is going at full speed, I really believe this team can be unstoppable, but it's not easy. It's about showing up every day and really believing in the system and in the players.”

As all of them stood on the rostrum with their gold medals of their pockets, they danced and laughed. Perhaps a few of them didn't expect to find yourself here, that this turnaround would occur like this. But they’re here now, embarking on a journey that’s entirely their very own, and one which is filled with joy.