How Megan Rapinoe became a new-age American Hero

Tonight England’s Lionesses take on the World Cup’s top dogs. Standing between the likes of Lucy Bronze, Ellen White, Jill Scott and a place in the Women’s World Cup final are an all-conquering USA side who imperiously dismissed hosts France 2-1 on Friday.   

And the tournament favourites have their own certified icon — the lilac-haired winger Megan Rapinoe, who turns 34 this week, a player whose every flex sends ripples on and off the pitch, and who is unquestionably the most important figure in women’s  football right now. Her power pose — arms open, head up — to celebrate goals has become a meme, used by normal people to celebrate their own victories. 

Rapinoe is a restless activist, a self-described “walking protest” against the Trump administration, openly and proudly gay and a gifted player who has never been afraid to take a stand. Here’s her score-sheet.

Brace for impact

Take the fact that Rapinoe scored both of her team’s goals on Friday, seizing the game by the scruff of its neck to set up tonight’s clash. If the first, a nonchalant free-kick flicked right-footed beneath the French wall, was a shot heard around the world, the celebration afterwards spoke volumes. Bursting towards the USA fans in the stadium’s corner, her teammates streaming behind her, she froze bolt upright, both arms raised defiantly, a Mona Lisa smile flickering around the outsides of her mouth.  

“The gesture was not a mere celebration,” wrote the New York Times’s Jeré Longman, who calls Rapinoe “the representative athlete of our times”. “It seemed to say this is all of me. Take me for the bold, complex person that I am — big personality; social activist; champion of equal pay; national anthem protester; presidential critic; lavender-haired soccer star of ruthless and creative purpose.”

Bringing the house down

Rapinoe has made her political stance clear. In an interview with Eight by Eight football magazine in June she was derisive about the idea of an invitation from the President, saying: “I’m not going to the f*cking White House.” She has since apologised — but only for the swear word because it upset her mum.

She fears the American women’s team’s decades-long fight for equality and inclusivity would be “co-opted by an administration that doesn’t feel the same way and doesn’t fight for the same things that we fight for.” 

Donald Trump was rattled, tweeting that “Megan should WIN first before she TALKS” while the Democrat politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has invited her to the House of Representatives instead. Rapinoe accepted that offer and said the feud with Trump hasn’t distracted her team. “If anything, it just fires everybody up a little more,” said Rapinoe.  

This is typical Rapinoe — forthright, self-assured and unapologetic. Just before the 2012 Olympics she became the first prominent US women’s soccer player to announce publicly that she was gay (she had been out to her family and friends since her first year at the University of Portland). 

Her activism has been effusive, whether taking the knee during the national anthem in 2016 in support of NFL star Colin Kaepernick’s protest for criminal justice reform or suing the United States Soccer Federation in March to demand equal pay, claiming “purposeful gender discrimination”. The case is ongoing.

She is a champion of the downtrodden. “To me, it’s literally all the same, insofar as I want people to respect who I am, what I am — being gay, being a woman, being a professional athlete, whatever,” Rapinoe said of taking the knee (she no longer does but refuses to sing the national anthem). “That is the exact same thing as what Colin did.” She added: “What kind of person do you want to be for yourself, but also in the larger context of the country and in the world?”

California dreams

Rapinoe — known by the nickname Pinoe — grew up in Redding, California. She’s played guitar since the age of 12, and brings it with her for away games.

Her mother, Denise, is a waitress and her father, Jim, runs a construction company. He could only take a week off to watch his daughter in France. He told the Standard that he’s “damn proud”. “Megan is so brave in everything she does publicly — and I admire her for that too, she’s definitely willing to put her all on the line. And hey — go USA!”

She has five siblings, including her twin, Rachael. She was also a footballer until a knee injury meant she had to retire. Now she’s interested in a career in medicine. 

Rachael told Yahoo! Sports that Megan felt lost at school. “Maybe part of the reason she was quiet growing up was because she felt a little different,” she said. “She didn’t quite feel comfortable in her skin. But once she realised who she was and why she felt the way she felt, she found strength in her voice.”

Their brother, Brian, led them into football and unrelenting two-on-one pick-up basketball games — but Rapinoe also credits him with the foundation of her social conscience. In his adult life, Brian has struggled with drug addiction and has been in and out of jail for drug-related crimes. Both he and Megan have spoken openly of his issues. She realised those incarcerated for drug addictions were “just normal people; they’re your brothers and your friends and your family”. 

Shooting star

Rapinoe is blessed with the kind of unaffected style that can send the merest cock of an eyebrow viral, speaking out where others falter. She grew up wanting to be a fashion designer, and her Instagram is a joyful stream of couture sportswear. Her tone moves swiftly from serious to disarming levity, as if waltzing between two defenders.

In May, she became the first openly gay athlete to appear in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, saying she wanted to celebrate diversity and “the beauty in all women, no matter what”. And last year she and her partner, basketball star Sue Bird, were the first gay couple to be featured in ESPN’s Body Issue, in which athletes pose without their clothes.  

On Friday, after the quarter-final win against France, when asked about the coincidence of the tournament being in Pride Month, she beamed. “Go, gays!”, she yelled, to cheers from the press corps. “You can’t win a championship without gays on your team. It’s never been done before. That’s science right there.” Then she smoothly segued back to answering questions about football. 

On the pitch she takes no prisoners. Phil Neville, the England Lionesses manager, labelled her “world class” before the match (she has twice been short-listed for FIFA Women’s Player of the Year, in 2015 and 2018). He said: “I remember in my first SheBelieves Cup (in March 2018) when a ball bounced on the touchline. I went to catch the ball and her studs came right through my watch — and she’s not repaid me yet for that watch.”

Her breakout moment in the 2011 World Cup came when she scored a goal against Colombia, grabbed an on-field microphone and sung Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA. “Make it fun, make it interesting, and make it creative,” she said of her celebrations. “Give the crowd their money’s worth”.

Tonight, even if you’re cheering for England, you’ll be glad Rapinoe is on the pitch.