Washington (AFP) - Megan Rapinoe's activism on such causes as gender equity, racial inequality and gay rights has ensured her iconic status as much as her US women's national team football heroics.
While the 38-year-old winger announced on Saturday that she will retire after this year's Women's World Cup and US club campaign, Rapinoe's legend will stand the test of time long after her final whistle.
"I never could have imagined the ways in which soccer would shape and change my life forever," Rapinoe said in announcing her retirement after her National Women's Soccer League campaign for OL Reign.
She became the face and driving force of an American squad that won the 2015 and 2019 Women's World Cup crowns as well as 2012 Olympic gold.
Rapinoe came out as gay in July of 2012 and has been an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ issues. She is engaged to US women's basketball star Sue Bird.
Rapinoe, known for her trademark pink hair, supported Black Lives Matter protests and voter rights campaigns.
Beyond that, Rapinoe was a forceful personality who led the fight for equal pay and conditions for US women's players compared to their male counterparts, a battle she and her teammates won in May 2022 when the US Soccer Federation agreed to equal pay and identical economic terms in men's and women's programs.
"In every aspect of life, the more we can tackle the inequality from a lot a different angles -- perspectives, different lanes -- the quicker we can rectify the problem," Rapinoe said.
In 2016, Rapinoe, was the first female athlete and white athlete to support former NFL player Colin Kaepernick and join his kneeling protest during the playing of the US national anthem before matches.
One club played the anthem while teams were still in locker rooms to avoid controversy and after Rapinoe kneeled before a US match, US Soccer stated that players were expected to stand for the anthem, to which Rapinoe replied, "blanketed patriotism as a defense against what the protest actually is was pretty cowardly."
During the 2019 world Cup in France, Rapinoe exchanged harsh words with then-US President Donald Trump, dismissing any notion of a White House visit while Trump called her out for not singing during the US anthem, accusing her of "disrespect" to the flag and nation.
"I'm not going to fake it, hobnob with the president, who is clearly against so many of the things that I'm for and so many of the things that I actually am," Rapinoe told Sports Illustrated at the time.
'A generational talent
Last July, Rapinoe was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by current US President Joe Biden.
Rapinoe, named FIFA's Best Women's Player in 2019, has 63 goals in 199 caps over 17 years for the US squad and will become the 14th American to reach 200 caps with her next national team appearance. The US squad is 157-14-28 in her 199 caps.
"Megan is a generational talent," US women's national team general manager and former Rapinoe teammate Kate Markgraf said. "When you talk about players performing on the biggest stages, she's right up there with the best to ever do it.
"Her contributions off the field are the epitome of someone who saw that she had a large platform and used it for good."
