U.S. athletes came home with plenty of hardware from the Olympic Games this year.
The U.S. women’s basketball team won their eighth straight gold medal — the U.S. men also took home the gold in hoops. In swimming, the U.S. won silver or gold in all seven relays. In track, Team USA took home a whopping 34 medals.
Texas athletes won 41 medals overall, which would mean if the Lone Star State were considered a country, it would rank as seventh best performing.
History is also made on the soccer pitch, with the U.S. women seizing quite the arc of redemption after an early exit from the World Cup last summer. The U.S. women’s national team won gold in the Olympic tournament, beating out Brazil for the top spot.
Linda Hamilton, who was on the U.S. women’s soccer team the year they won the first ever Women’s World Cup in 1991, said watching the team play in the Olympics felt “like home” again.
“It felt like watching them come back and take a breath. Obviously the disappointment in the 2023 World Cup, going out earlier than we’ve ever exited, I think it was an important time for this team to show that it’s not on a downward spiral. That we can have a down moment, but then we gotta get back,” Hamilton said. “So this was the next world event. It was against full national teams and I thought our team played the best we’ve played in probably five years.”
The team has a new coach, Emma Hayes, who joined the program just a few games before the Olympics after finishing her season with the Chelsea women’s team in the United Kingdom.
“Her actual winning the gold medal game was only her 10th game coaching the team,” Hamilton said. “She only had four games leading into the Olympics.”
Hayes got some criticism for not making many substitutions over the course of the tournament, but Hamilton said that might have been in part because she was so new.
“I think she was trying to get some continuity, let the team get some continuity among itself,” Hamilton said. “We played six games and 16 days. So that is an unbelievably tough schedule with a very small roster. So, yes, does it look like we were tired and maybe could she have run some subs in differently? Possibly. But it’s hard to say when she won the gold.
… I feel like she did what she needed to do with the players. They did what they needed to do. And even at times, if some were faltering, in fairness, it’s a super talented group. So they were given a chance to figure it out.”
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Hamilton said several players stood out in her mind as tournament MVPs.
“Obviously Alyssa Naeher in goal is an absolute menace and you can’t get anything by her, so I think she was a huge factor,” Hamilton said. “I was really, really impressed with Korbin Albert. I thought she was one of our best midfielders throughout the tournament and as a young player.
And then of course, it’s easy to love the three forwards: Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman. I just don’t know how any team has enough defenders to counteract all of that talent. So I think those three were incredibly impressive as a group and individually scoring goals.”
Looking forward, the squad’s performance indicates a bright future for the program, Hamilton said.
“I have very high hopes with this young squad winning one of the best world events in soccer with that lack of experience,” she said. “I think the future is very, very bright for the U.S. And I really like the mix that Emma picked of veterans and youth. And then I suspect you’ll continue to see some veterans keep going and new youthful players coming on.
I really think this group now has some juice, they’ve got some momentum. So I think it’s just going to be a really positive experience for us moving forward.”
