Flame Bearers

Watch the video version of this conversation on our YouTube channel ►/ @flamebearers What does it take to be the FIRST? To dream beyond what's considered possible? Marine Fatoumata Camara is the first and only elite female boxer from Mali. As she shares, she's gone "where people didn't expect her to because they didn't know what was possible." As of the time of this recording, Marine was on her wa...

Watch the video version of this conversation on our YouTube channel ►/ @flamebearers Sunny Choi grew up as a gymnast and first watched the 1992 Olympic gymnastics in her sparkly Little Mermaid tutu. On the drive to her first gymnastics class, 3-year-old Sunny asked Mom if she was going to win a gold medal. This summer, she finally has that chance...but in a different sport. Sunny found 'breaking'...

Maé-Bérénice Méité is a 2x Olympian and 6x National Figure Skating Champion from France who is also an entrepreneur, artist, content creator, and so much more. She's deeply passionate about sharing the behind-the-scenes realities of being a world-class athlete, including the challenges and struggles. Maé-Bérénice co-hosts our interviews in Flame Bearers: Pathways to Paris celebrating women from ar...

2x Olympic Gold Medalist and 3x World Champion, Caster Semenya has made headlines since winning the 800m at the 2009 World Athletics Championships at the age of 18, yet the media (and many of her fellow athletes) wouldn't gracefully acknowledge her generational talent for what it was, but rather started accusing her of being a man. This was news to Caster, someone who was born a woman and grew up...

This episode is co-hosted by Michelle's son, Cody. As Michelle shares, "If you want to know who I am, Cody has been with me through it all." According to Cody, growing up, "my classmates and teachers would pull me aside and say, 'we know who your Mom is,' but for me, she was just my Mom." Michelle was born 6 years before Title IX, and never got to watch women compete growing up. Her hero was Super...

It’s been a few months since the World Cup, but we committed to telling the stories of the entire first USWNT, so we tracked down one of the two outstanding players. Here she is! Tara Buckley O'Sullivan, grew up doing everything with her twin sister, Moira. The duo would go to their older brother's soccer games, and then their younger brother's games. When Tara and Moira were watching younger brot...

Yes, it’s been a few months since the World Cup, but we committed to telling the stories of the entire first USWNT, so we tracked down one of the two outstanding players. Here she is! Sharon was the first woman to be named U.S. Soccer Player of the Year and according to Michelle Akers, she's the ultimate badass. "You showed up at the game on a motorcycle and picture me, I'm just sitting on the gro...

Kim Crabbe was the first African-American to roster on the USWNT. She was on the 1986 team, but given that we've been telling the stories of the original USWNT trailblazers, Kim needed to be celebrated. According to longtime friend and soccer leader, Samuel Okpodu, Kim is the "Cinderella of soccer...Today everybody's enjoying it, but nobody remembers how it all started. Kim started it all" at a ti...

Denise was a swimmer, diver, gymnast, and track and field athlete before becoming a soccer player at 14. That said, Washington had strong support for women's soccer at the time, so once she was hooked, she was all in on soccer. Hilariously, Denise and Michelle have a moment where they both share how they felt playing against each other. Hint: they were both intimidated. As Denise offers, Michelle...

Pam was working in the credit department of JCPenney when she got a call from The Washington Post asking her about making the first U.S. Women's National Team -- she hadn't heard from U.S. Soccer yet, so she wasn't sure what was happening. The Post had the scoop -- she was on the team. The first USWNT. Flash forward and though she's no longer a professional player, she's held onto her competitive...

*Content Warning: This episode includes stories of sexual abuse. This production contains material of a highly sensitive nature including stories of sexual grooming and manipulation that may be triggering. Resources provided below.* Cindy remembers going to her brothers' soccer games to watch. "They didn't have girls soccer then, and I was dying to play... I remember standing on the sidelines thin...

While Kathy (or Ridgey as she was called) had older sisters, she grew up playing with the boys, and doing so in what SHE wanted to wear. Just as Kathy started public elementary school, the rules changed to allow girls to wear pants (Kathy's older sisters had been required to wear dresses or skirts). As Kathy shares, Mom "tried to get me in dresses on picture day, and I would sneak out my brother's...

Nobody in Ann's family played soccer, so at 12, she went to the town firehouse to sign herself up -- she strategically jotted down "goalie" because she thought it increased her odds of making the team. Flash forward to UVA, and Ann is playing field hockey to help with the costs, yet she returned home on weekends without games to play soccer. UVA didn't have a women's soccer team at the time. After...

Kim Wyant is used to being the first. She recorded the first USWNT goalkeeper win, the first shutout, the first anterior ACL injury (was the first goalie to be replaced by a field player, shoutout Lori Henry), was one of the first female BMX riders, and as of eight years ago (in 2015) became the only female head coach of an NCAA men’s soccer team (things have changed as we'll hear...) Needless to...

When asked to recall her first soccer memory, Lori shares her team’s post-game tradition: whether they won or lost, 6-year old Lori and team would go to the nearby hamburger establishment and chow down on free french fries. And while the teams have changed over the years, Lori’s love for the game has only kept growing. Flash forward to 1985, and Lori had "no clue what to expect" when it came to th...

Emily grew up as #7 of 8 kids so she always had someone to play with...and she played every sport possible, particularly enjoying team sports. Older sister, Aimee describes Emily's "quiet strength" and "natural leadership" at a young age. Coach Mike Ryan called Emily a "maverick" because she tucked in her shirt sleeves, and wore her soccer socks down. "Mike was considering not taking us because he...

Margaret (or as she goes by in soccer, Tucka) grew up in Palo Alto, California, where there were three teams for players ages 10-16. Tucka made the All Star team as a 10 year old, and she didn't stop there... She shares about her time at Cal (currently tied with Alex Morgan at #3 for most goals scored), moving abroad to Germany and getting a job at a shoe heeling company, and the realities of pro...

When Lori Henry talks about her six year run on the USWNT, she talks about the "little moments along the way," the moments she says that changed her life. She describes making the first team, being the last name called and not hearing it, but having her teammates jump on her in a pig pile. Even the way Lori introduced herself to us was full of humility, "Lori Henry, defender on the '85 original te...

Linda Gancitano was the first girl on her high school boy's soccer team, so she got to play alongside her younger brother, Nick. According to Nick, even at an early age, Linda "never took any guff from anyone" and would slide tackle the biggest male forwards. Flash forward to University of Central Florida (UCF) and Linda was a veteran on the team when Michelle Akers joined -- ironically, the entir...

Stacey Enos is one of the three original University of North Carolina (UNC) Tar Heels to blaze the trail to the USWNT. Stacey was actually the FIRST Tar Heel to earn a cap for the USWNT, but Stacey was used to being the first, or the only one doing something. "I had to play with the boys. I couldn't be afraid. When you got knocked down, I had to pick myself back up," she says. Stacey was the '85er...

"What a gritty bunch, you know?" was Ruth Harker's response when asked about her team, the original USWNT. Ruth grew up with her Mom and older brother Steven (who she calls the Harker 'golden boy') who would put peanut butter on her face and hold her down while their dog licked it off. She was a tough cookie who once allowed to play sports, whole heartedly threw herself into them all. She started...

Sofia grew up wanting to do everything her older brother, Tommaso did, so when he took to the slopes, she begged her Mom to let her join. At 6, she forecasted her future: she wanted to be a famous ski racer who would win World Cups. Flash forward to today, and she's crowned the 'queen of speed' with 3x World Cup Downhill title wins and 2x Olympic medals including the first for Italy in her discipl...

Yip Pin Xiu is a "born and bred city girl', having grown up in Singapore with her close-knit family flying kites, playing in the sand pool, and at five, getting in the with her brothers. Swimming started as a family activity. Fast forward to 2008, and Pin Xiu became Singapore's first ever Paralympic gold medalist. She now has 5 Paralympic golds and 5 World Championships. She was the first para ath...

Sam Mewis grew up flipping over rocks in the woods of Massachusetts hunting for salamanders, while Lynn Williams grew up on a pecan farm with her "huge family of non-farmers" in Clovis, California. Flash forward and the two are inseparable. According to Sam & Lynn, they're in a "very serious platonic friendship." As former roomies who dominated the field together, gone through injuries and covid t...

Noelle Lambert grew up playing in the dirt and on the field with her older brothers, watching the Pats, Bruins, Celtics, and Red Sox. She was always active, keeping up with the boys. Flash forward to college at UMass Lowell where Noelle is playing Division 1 lacrosse, and she's in an accident that changes everything. While riding a moped, she's sideswiped by a truck and loses her leg. Noelle's sto...