Account management. Hope Solo has experienced many ups and downs — both personal and professional — since the beginning of her soccer career in the United States.
The Washington native was the goalkeeper of the U.S. women’s national soccer team from 2000 to 2016, winning two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup title. She was considered one of the best in her field, but her legacy has been tarnished for some fans due to numerous controversies.
Before her contract was officially terminated, the U.S. Soccer Federation repeatedly suspended Solo, especially in 2016 after the Rio Olympics. When American athletes were defeated by the Swedish team and dropped out of the fight for medals, Solo called her rivals “a bunch of cowards.” She was officially expelled from the team after her comments.
“For 17 years, I have dedicated my life to the U.S. women’s national team and performed the work of a professional athlete in the only way I knew how — with passion, perseverance, unrelenting desire to become the best goalkeeper in the world, not only for my country, but also to raise the sport for the next generation of female athletes,” she wrote in a statement. in social networks in August 2016. “I have never hesitated in these commitments. And with so much I can give, I am saddened by the Federation’s decision to terminate my contract.”
Solo continued at the time: “I couldn’t be the player I am without being the person I am, even if I didn’t make the best choice or say the right things. All my career I have wanted only the best for this team, for the players and the women’s game, and I will continue to pursue these goals with the same relentless passion with which I play.”
Reflecting on her time in the professional arena, Solo stated that her teammates didn’t always treat her fairly. “It was a mean girls’ club,” she said in the January 2021 issue of the Players podcast. “Most of the players came from wealthy white families. This is the culture of the U.S. women’s national team. This is a very privileged white culture. …It’s a much more open and welcoming environment [now].”
At the time, Solo claimed that some of her colleagues “bullied” her. Despite attempts to make changes, she claimed that she and her teammate Carly Lloyd were treated like outsiders. “People have not been kind to us,” Solo continued. “{people weren’t friendly, they didn’t invite you to sit at the dinner table. It was very difficult for me to grow up in the national team in the social aspect, as well as in learning the game.”
Things were just as challenging for the University of Washington alum off the field. In 2018, Solo suffered a miscarriage after she announced that she and her husband Jerrami Stevens were expecting twins. The couple, who married in 2012, had twins Lozen and Vittorio two years later.
Solo found herself in the headlines again in March 2022 after she was arrested in North Carolina for allegedly driving drunk with her children in a car.
“On the advice of a lawyer, Hope cannot talk about this situation,” Rich Nichols said. “But she wants everyone to know that her children are her life, that she was immediately released and is now at home with her family, that the story is more sympathetic than the initial allegations suggest, and that she is looking forward to defending herself. these accusations.”
Scroll down to look back at the ups and downs of Solo over the years:
Jerrami Stevens Relationship
The athletes met in college, but when Stevens confessed his love to Solo in 2011, she turned him down. “I didn’t know what to say,” she recalled during an interview with Elle in 2019. “So I said: “Fuck you,” and we didn’t talk for a whole year.”
The couple tied the knot in November 2012, days after Stevens was arrested and investigated on charges of assaulting Solo. At the time, the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to charge Stevens. “It was the most triumphant day,” Solo said about her wedding in the same interview.
Domestic violence
In June 2014, Solo was charged with two counts of fourth-degree assault on her half-sister and her nephew. She was released a day after her arrest and pleaded not guilty. Solo was allowed to continue playing professionally, missing only one game, which surprised some fans. A judge dismissed the charges against Solo in January 2015, but the prosecutor’s office later appealed. In May 2018, all charges were officially dropped against her.
Career wins
Solo is a two—time Olympic champion and a two-time winner of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. She helped the US national team win the 2015 World Cup and in the same year was awarded the coveted FIFA Golden Boot Trophy, having previously received this award in 2011. Football Hall of Fame.
