Mia Hamm and Lindsey Vonn are among those selected by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee for its Hall of Fame Class of 2022.
The inductees were announced Monday and will be honored in a ceremony on June 24 at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs.
Notable women joining Hamm, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in soccer, and Lindsey Vonn, a gold medalist in downhill skiing, are:
- Natalie Coughlin, swimming, 12 Olympic medals
- Muffy Davis, skiing and cycling, seven Paralympic medals
- Michelle Kwan, figure skating, two Olympic medals
- Trischa Zorn-Hudson, swimming, 55 Paralympic medals
- Pat Summitt, women’s basketball coach, two Olympic medals
- Billie Jean King, special contributor
A class of their own. ✨
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) June 6, 2022
Introducing the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022. #TeamUSAHOF pic.twitter.com/qQJwjMAFhp
Men’s athletes David Kiley and Michael Phelps, as well as the 1976 women’s 4×100 freestyle relay swimming team and 2002 Paralympic sled hockey team, also are among the inductees.
“It’s a distinct honor to welcome the class of 2022 into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame and to celebrate their remarkable individual and team achievements as representatives of Team USA,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a statement. “Induction into the Hall of Fame adds to the tremendous legacies of these great athletes and teams, and also memorializes the contributions of those members of the ‘team behind the team’ who dedicated themselves to helping Team USA achieve success on and off the field of play.”
Three-time Olympian Coughlin won 12 medals – tied for the most Olympic medals by a U.S. women’s athlete. She also was the first U.S. women’s athlete to win six medals at a single games.
One of the most decorated female soccer players in U.S. history, Hamm won three Olympic medals in three appearances with the USWNT. Kwan is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history, while Vonn is the lone American woman to capture downhill gold at the Olympics.
Summitt is being inducted as a coach, having helped the U.S. team to gold at the Olympics in 1984. King, meanwhile, is being inducted as a special contributor for her work as a founder of the Women’s Tennis Association and the Women’s Sports Foundation.
Mia Hamm reflected on the journey to bring women’s professional soccer to Los Angeles ahead of Angel City FC’s regular-season debut at Banc of California Stadium on Friday.
The USWNT icon has been one of the most consequential figures in growing American women’s soccer throughout her career and has continued to carry the mantle after her playing days.
In her latest role as an investor in the Los Angeles-based NWSL expansion club Angel City FC, Hamm once again finds herself blazing the trail for women’s soccer.
“I’m going to feel so many emotions stepping into that stadium,” Hamm told Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times ahead of Friday’s home game. “Pride is probably the first one, just what this team has built and accomplished. And being able to kind of feel the energy from the supporters because I know it’s going to be amazing.”
The soccer icon has been determined to bring the sport to Southern California, an epicenter of women’s soccer, for quite some time. While opportunities presented themselves throughout the years, Hamm was wary of backing the right project.
When entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman and actress Natalie Portman spearheaded an ownership group that included big-name investors like Jennifer Garner and Eva Longoria, everything fell into place, with the proposal earning an NWSL expansion berth in 2020.
“It’s one thing to kind of talk about it. It’s another thing to do it,” Hamm said. “So all credit to Julie and Kara and Natalie. They have done all the heavy lifting.”
While Hamm is quick to point out that she is not from Southern California, her imprint on the area’s soccer landscape is indelible. She played her last professional match in Carson, Calif., in 2004.
“So many kids are playing all across Southern California,” she added. “Some of the best players in the country come out of this area. So it just made sense.
It’s really important to say thank you to the players that were the foundation of the game here in Southern California and to be aspirational to the players that don the Angel City kit. But also all the young players that come and watch them play.”
Angel City FC enter their regular-season debut on the heels of their first franchise win. They downed the Portland Thorns 1-0 in the club’s final Challenge Cup contest Sunday.
The expansion club will host the North Carolina Courage in Los Angeles on Friday, with the game broadcast on CBS Sports Network at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Catarina Macario was a difference maker during Wednesday night’s SheBelieves Cup game between the USWNT and Iceland, scoring two goals and an assist to earn tournament MVP.
Macario said after that she has “been practicing that for awhile” in regards to her first goal, which came from the corner of the box and pulled the USWNT ahead 1-0.
FROM THE CORNER OF THE BOX!!!!
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) February 24, 2022
Get in, @catarinamacario 🇺🇸#SheBelievesCup x @Visa pic.twitter.com/TMSZ5h62EE
Her performance earned high praises from some of the USWNT’s best, including Mia Hamm, who told Macario to “take a bow!”
Seriously @catarinamacario ! Take a bow!
— Mia Hamm (@MiaHamm) February 24, 2022
Megan Rapinoe also shouted her out, calling her “CLASSSSSSSSSS.”
. @catarinamacario is CLASSSSSSSSSS. That’s it. That’s the tweet.
— Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) February 24, 2022
USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski called her two goals scored “some world-class goals.”
“They should be on highlight reels around the world,” he added, stating that she’s becoming a bit of a superstar on the USWNT.
In part due to Macario’s performance, the USWNT blanked Iceland 5-0 en route to their third-straight SheBelieves Cup title.
She may be done playing soccer, but Mia Hamm isn’t done breaking records.
A PSA 10 Mia Hamm 1992 S.I. for Kids rookie card sold for $34,440 over the weekend. According to ESPN, that amount nearly doubles the previous record for the most expensive women’s sports card.
A @MiaHamm rookie card sold for $34,440 over the weekend, nearly doubling the previous record for most expensive female sports card all-time. https://t.co/1TCPcPv4Dk pic.twitter.com/bxOhhw4naH
— espnW (@espnW) June 29, 2021
The rookie card is from a 1992 edition of S.I. for Kids that appeared following Hamm’s first FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance in 1991. The previous record was held by an Alex Morgan card that reportedly sold for $16,000. A Serena Williams rookie card also brought in $14,000 a few months back.
Sports cards have seen an uptick in sales in recent years, including in the women’s sports market. The results also indicate a growing interest in soccer in the United States.
“It validates that there’s a legitimate market for women’s sports,” Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin told ESPN. “Four years ago, soccer was not considered by most (trading card) people in the United States. But two of the five highest-priced items in this auction were soccer-related (and) then you have Mia Hamm up there, too.”