Megan Rapinoe will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on July 7 at the White House.
The U.S. women’s national team legend will be the first soccer player ever chosen for the award, and will be one of just six figures from women’s sports to receive it. She and Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles will both get their medals later this week at the same ceremony, joining Olympic gold medalist Babe Didrickson Zaharias, tennis star and civil rights icon Billie Jean King, pro golfer Annika Sörenstam, and legendary basketball coach Pat Summitt.
“I keep saying, I’m just shook. Totally overwhelmed, and just completely honored by this. It’s really hard to find the words to express how special this is and what this means to me,” Rapinoe told reporters on a press call today from Mexico, where the USWNT is preparing to start its CONCACAF W Championship campaign. “I just can’t help but think of all of the other people that I feel really have a part and deserve a part of this medal. Obviously my family, all of my friends, Sue (Bird, Rapinoe’s partner and WNBA star), the entire extended family around the US women’s national team, from every single former player to the offices in Chicago to the team I have around me right now. None of this is possible throughout my entire career without everybody. So I’m so thankful to everyone.”
In a statement sent out by U.S. Soccer, Rapinoe mentioned more influential figures from the push for civil rights, including King, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the three founders of Black Lives Matter Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza, and Patrisse Cullors, LGBTQIA+ rights pioneers Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, as well as Venus and Serena Williams.
Rapinoe, who apparently thought the call from the White House was a prank before being advised by Kelley O’Hara to take the call, will miss the USWNT’s second match in the W Championship, a clash with Jamaica in Monterrey that also takes place on July 7.
On that front, USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said there are no issues from the team’s side of things.
“Megan is of course very disappointed about missing a game, but I told her to go. She has to go. This is a once in a lifetime honor, she deserves it, and she will be representing herself, her team and her country at the White House,” said Andonovski in U.S. Soccer’s press release. “I think I can speak for everyone at U.S. Soccer when I say we are very proud of Megan and the impact she’s made on our sport and our country as a person and a player.”
Per U.S. Soccer, Rapinoe will return immediately after the ceremony, and will be eligible for the crucial final game in Group A, when the USWNT will take on Mexico.
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