Portrait
Megan Rapinoe
Born
5 July 1985Redding, California, USA
FootballerUnited States

Megan Rapinoe

The World Cup winner with the purple hair came out in 2012 and became the loudest voice for equal pay in sport.

Megan Rapinoe grew up in a small town in California with her twin sister Rachael, who also played football. She played at the University of Portland and became a professional, including with OL Reign in Seattle and briefly with Olympique Lyon.

With the US national team she won Olympic gold in 2012 and the World Cup in 2015 and 2019. At the 2019 World Cup in France she was the best player and top scorer, and her arms-outstretched goal celebration became iconic. In 2019 she won the Ballon d’Or.

Rapinoe came out publicly in 2012, before the London Olympics. In 2016 she knelt during the national anthem in solidarity with the football player Colin Kaepernick’s protest against racism and police violence. She was a leading figure in the national team’s lawsuit for equal pay, which ended in 2022 with a settlement in which the federation committed to equal pay for women and men.

In 2022 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She ended her career in 2023. Her partner is the former basketball star Sue Bird.

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