The 10 most iconic moments in USWNT Olympic history

Playing in front of a home crowd in Atlanta, the US won the first Olympic gold medal for women's soccer, defeating China 2-1.

The team was stacked with budding sports icons, including Briana Scurry, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Michelle Akers, and Julie Foudy.

In a July 2021 episode of The Athletic's podcast, "Full Time with Meg Linehan," Hamm described the immediate impact the game had on raising awareness and fandom around women's soccer.

"They knew us by first and last names. So for us to be able to reach out and connect with the non-soccer fans, that's where we felt that was the biggest impact that '96 had for us," she said.

The New York Times reported that the game "will be remembered as one of the greatest women's games ever played, wide open and full of wide swings, breathless creativity, stirring defense, rapturous victory and inconsolable defeat."

One of the most exciting moments happened in the final moments of regulation when the US was down 2-1.

Hamm crossed the ball to forward Tiffeny Milbrett for a game-tying goal to give the US a renewed chance at gold.

Though the US later lost in sudden death in controversial fashion, the game — and Milbrett's goal — are still remembered as an excellent display of the USWNT's unwavering grit and desire to win.

In the first of the USWNT's head-to-head gold medal Olympic contests with Brazil, it was prolific goal-scorer Abby Wambach who helped the team reach gold when she was just 24 years old.

In true Wambach fashion, she headed the game-winning goal off a corner kick from Kristine Lilly in the 112th minute of extra-time.

The gold medal was a powerful sendoff for many of the greats from the '96 Olympic team.

In a "Throwback Thursday" segment posted by the Olympics on YouTube in 2020, Carli Lloyd recalled scoring her gold-medaling-winning goal against Brazil in the 96th minute of extra-time.

"I hit it perfectly and it just dipped and hit underneath the goalkeeper's arms," she said.

"It was definitely one of my most amazing moments," Lloyd added.

She retired from the national team in 2021, leaving as the USA's all-time leading scorer in Olympic competition, with 10 goals across the tournaments, among many other accolades.

Perhaps even more iconic than Leroux's goal was her reaction.

As the youngest member of the 2012 Olympic squad, Leroux scored her first Olympic goal in the 87th minute of the quarterfinal against New Zealand and burst into an incredible display of emotion.

Leroux spoke about the experience after the game in an episode of "Studio 90 Extra Time" posted to the US Soccer YouTube channel, describing it as "one of the best moments of my career so far."

Although an entire slideshow could be dedicated to this match at Old Trafford, it all boiled down to Alex Morgan's incredible goal in the 123rd minute of extra-time against Canada in the Olympic semifinal in 2012.

Following a cross from Heather O'Reilly, Morgan rose above her defender to float the ball over Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod, bringing the score to 4-3. This allowed the US to avoid going to penalties and sent the team to its fifth consecutive Olympic final.

In a rematch of the 2011 World Cup final between the US and Japan, the US was victorious with a 2-1 win, largely because of goalkeeper Hope Solo.

She made several saves throughout the game, the most crucial coming in the 82nd minute to prevent Mana Iwabuchi from scoring a game-tying goal that could have derailed the US's gold medal hopes.

In 2016, then-18-year-old Mallory Pugh (now known by her married name Swanson) became the youngest American player to score a goal in the Olympics, ESPN reported.

Her goal game in the 59th minute of the team's final group-stage match against Colombia.

Though the team ultimately lost to Sweden in penalties during the quarterfinals, Rio helped prove Swanson's budding talent.

Now 26 years old, she has been an integral figure of the USWNT's front line in Paris alongside Trinity Rodman, 22, and Sophia Smith, 23, who recently named themselves "Triple Espresso" during an interview on the "Today" show.

After a disappointing 1-0 loss to Canada in the semifinals, the USWNT rebounded to win 4-3 against Australia in the bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics.

Unsurprisingly, the US's goals came from Rapinoe and Lloyd, who each scored twice.

Rapinoe retired two years later, in 2023. She finished her national team career with 203 appearances, 63 goals, and 73 assists, two World Cup championships, and two Olympic medals.

Smith scored the game-winning goal in extra-time of the semifinal match against Germany, allowing the US to win 1-0.

Smith, who turns 24 on Saturday, told the "Today" show she wants only one thing for her birthday: a gold medal.

"That would be the best birthday ever, and we would have the best birthday party after," she said.