Trinity Rodman kickstarted the U.S.’ Olympic run in women’s soccer. Five things you should know about the young phenom

She’s one part of a three-headed attack in U.S. Soccer’s quest for gold at the Summer Games

She’s part of a current three-headed monster on the U.S. attack but made a splash all her own with arguably the goal of the tournament.

Scoring the first goal for the women’s Olympic national team against Zambia, Trinity Rodman, playing in her first Summer Games has made U.S. head coach Emma Hayes look like a genius by placing the 22-year-old in the lineup. She’s the firestarter of not just the team’s first goal of the tournament but she’s helped to place the Americans soundly in a chase for a medal.

Rodman has help as she, alongside forwards Sophia Smith and stalwart Crystal Dunn have the U.S. in the driver’s seat, but it’s Rodman that has put her stamp squarely on these Olympic Games.

So who is she? Here are five things you should know about Rodman, and why she’s a go-to in a quest for gold.

She was an unlikely breakout star

Rodman was set on attending Washington State alongside her brother but the COVID-19 pandemic happened making her change her mind completely on plans instead to go pro. It proved to be the right call after Rodman, who was drafted No. 2 in the NWSL College Draft by the Washington (D.C.) Spirit, she was named the league’s Rookie of the Year and to its Best XI, scoring seven goals, good for second best on the team.

Her last name should sound familiar

She’s the daughter of former NBA star Dennis Rodman, the brash but dominant defender who powered teams like the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s. She’s one of three Rodman offspring, alongside her older brother D.J. and a younger stepsister named Alexis.

She was late to the game

Rodman didn’t even begin playing youth soccer until she was 10 years old, according to a 2021 sitdown with The Athletic shortly after being drafted by the Spirit. She’d end up on the radar of the national team ranks for her talents, joining the U.S.’ under-17 national team in 2017. Five years later, she’d make her debut with the senior national team in 2022.

She’s a USWNT record holder

During a 2023 tuneup game ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Rodman would score a pair of goals in a 2-0 win over Wales after being a second-half substitution. She was named Player of the Match after setting a record at age 21 of being the youngest player to score two goals in a senior match.

She’s ... active on social media

Not only is she on but she’s widely known too. Her Instagram account @trinity_rodman has 374k followers and counting. She also has quite the following on her X account and her TikTok pages, the latter of which has amassed 150k followers.