DENVER — Not every athlete gets to leave on their own terms and write the final chapter of their historic memoir, but that's what one of the greatest American soccer players in history did Saturday, as Megan Rapinoe announced she'll retire at the end of the 2023 season -- hopefully after winning a third World Cup title of her four attempts, (2015, 2019).
While she's been a Golden Boot winner, a FIFA Woman of the Year, and an Olympic Champion (2012), it's really her work off the pitch that will be etched into history.
Megan Rapinoe stood up for equality and for human rights and took a knee for racial injustice. She used her enormous platform to show visibility for the LGBTQ community by being true to her own identity as a gay woman. Her biggest victory came in the form of a federal court ruling in 2022 where she and her teammates earned the right to be compensated equally with the men's team in a historic revenue sharing agreement.
Megan Rapinoe is a patriot in the truest sense of the word. She represented our country on the highest athletic stage for more than a decade, fighting for freedom, standing up for justice, and wearing the country's colors proudly, and we're just lucky enough to have her for one more battle.