Just 16 months ago, the world watched on as Mallory Swanson saw her World Cup dreams come unraveled. Off she went, carted off with an injury just a few months before the tournament. It was heartbreaking, as Swanson's shot at glory had been ripped away, and the U.S. women's national team didn't recover.
She had to be thinking about that on Saturday as she blitzed forward. It was just her and her alone, baring down on Brazil's Lorena Leite with the ball in the second half, a tournament and a program at her feet. She made no mistake. Swanson tucked her shot into the bottom corner, and with it earned a gold medal and helped restore the USWNT among the most elite programs in the global game.
Swanson's goal was all the U.S. would need to take down Brazil and claim the Americans' record fifth Olympic gold. Saturday's final was the sixth gold medal game for the USWNT (out of eight Olympics in which women's soccer was contested). The history is undeniable: The USWNT has the most Olympic gold and most total medals in the history of the Games, now having won five golds, one silver and one bronze. And after being shut out of the medal round in 2016 and taking bronze at the 2021 Games, this was first chance to claim Olympic gold in 12 years.
And this one, in many ways, felt more unlikely than any that came before it. Just a year ago, this USWNT had a very noisy and disappointing fall from grace. On Saturday, they completed their comeback, as Emma Hayes took the U.S. back to the top in just her 10th match as coach.
"First of all, we have to play the game, not the occasion," Hayes told NBC after the match, "and I felt the way Brazil played... a lot of duels, a lot of 1v1s, they don't really want to allow you time and space, so no problem. We got more aggressive as the game went on, I was encouraging by that. The heart, the determination, the grit, everything about these players is so unbelievable. I'm so proud."
Swanson will go down as the hero, but she wasn't the only one. Alyssa Naeher, again, made the save that was needed to protect the fragile 1-0 lead. The defense, despite strong moments, battled harder than they have all tournament. And Hayes, the tactical wizard behind it all, completed her rebuild just weeks after starting it.
The U.S. is back on top. GOAL rates the USWNT's players in the Olympic final from Parc des Princes in Paris.