Hope Solo Biography

Hope Amelia Solo, born on is an American soccer goalkeeper and a two-time Olympic gold medalist from Richland, Washington who currently plays for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League. She has been goalkeeping for the United States women's national soccer team since 2000. After playing for University of Washington, she played in Women's United Soccer Association league, a Swedish league and a French league. She played in Women's Professional Soccer league during its entire existence from 2009 through 2011; for the clubs Saint Louis Athletica, Atlanta Beat and magicJack. Since 2012 she has played for the Seattle Sounders in W-League.

Solo is often mentioned for her excellent goalkeeping and good looks. Her benching, and the 0"4 loss to Brazil in 2007 World Cup semifinal, were often mentioned with the sacking of U.S. national coach Greg Ryan after the tournament. In 2011, she participated in Dancing with the stars television show, and posed nude for The Body Issue of ESPN The Magazine. Before the 2012 London Olympics, Solo was warned after she tested positive with a banned substance from a prescription medicine. After the 2012 London Olympics, where she received her second Olympic gold medal, she published her best-selling autobiography Solo: A Memoir of Hope.

Background

Solo was born in Richland, Washington on July 30, 1981. Her father Jeffrey, of Italian descent who grew up in the Bronx, was a sometimes-homeless Vietnam War veteran. It was Jeffrey who taught her how to play soccer. Although her parents divorced when she was six and she lived with her mother, Solo maintained a close relationship with her father, who continued to be a major influence in her life until his sudden death of heart failure in June 2007.

Amateur and Collegiate career

Solo has played soccer with the Three Rivers Soccer Club in the Tri-Cities. As a forward at Richland High School, Solo scored 109 goals, leading her team to three consecutive league titles from 1996"1998 and a state championship in her senior year. She was twice named a Parade All American. At the University of Washington, Solo switched to the goalkeeper position and was the team's all-time leader in shutouts, saves, and goals-against average (GAA). She was a four-time All-Pac-10 selection and a three-time NSCAA All-American.

Club career

Following her college career, Solo was drafted for the now defunct WUSA team Philadelphia Charge in 2003. She made 19 league appearances for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC of Göteborg, Sweden in the Swedish Premier Division in 2004 and played for Olympique Lyonnais in the French First Division in 2005. She made seven appearances for the French club.

Saint Louis Athletica

On September 16, 2008, Solo was one of the three players drafted for Saint Louis Athletica in the WPS allocation of national team members, with the new league starting play in April 2009. Solo let in six goals in the first four games as Athletica got off to a very slow 0"2"2 start in their first season. She conceded eight goals in her next 13 games and finished the season with eight shutouts. In 2009 Solo was named the WPS Goalkeeper of the Year.

Atlanta Beat

In May 2010 the Saint Louis Athletica folded and Solo signed with another WPS team, Atlanta Beat, along with two St. Louis teammates. As her previous number (1) was taken, she took #78 for the Beat. Solo's comments on social networking website Twitter led to two separate controversies; after she accused Boston Breakers supporters of offensive chanting and racism, then questioned the integrity of match officials and the league itself following the Beat's 1"0 defeat to Washington Freedom. The second outburst resulted in a $2,500 fine and one-game suspension. After the end of the season, Solo underwent surgery on her right shoulder on September 22.

magicJack

Ahead of the 2011 Women's Professional Soccer season, Solo signed for a new franchise magicJack. After one season with magicJack, the club lost its franchise on October 25, 2011 in the soon to be folded WPS league.

Seattle Sounders

On February 14, 2012, it was announced that Solo had signed with the Seattle Sounders Women. Joining the club the same year were national team-mates Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Sydney Leroux.

Seattle Reign FC

On January 11, 2013 it was announced that Solo was one of three members from the United States women's national team that was allocated to the new NWSL club Seattle Reign FC, along with Megan Rapinoe and Amy Rodriguez. She was named a member of the Olympic team in 2004, making the 2004 Olympics in Athens as an alternate. Solo has been the team's first choice goalkeeper since 2005. She has recorded several clean sheets and once went 1,054 minutes without allowing a goal, a streak that ended in a 4"1 victory against France in the Algarve Cup.

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup

Solo was the starting goalkeeper for the United States in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, giving up two goals in four games including consecutive shutouts of Sweden, Nigeria and England. Heading into the semifinal match against Brazil, U.S. coach Greg Ryan benched Solo in favor of 36-year-old veteran U.S. keeper Briana Scurry, who had a strong history of performance against the Brazilians but had not played a complete game in three months. The U.S. lost to Brazil 4"0, ending a 51"game (regulation time) undefeated streak, while playing much of the match with only 10 players after midfielder Shannon Boxx received two yellow cards at the end of the first half.

Post-2007 World Cup fallout

In an impromptu interview following the match, a clearly upset Solo criticized Ryan's decision. "It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that. There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 anymore. It's not 2004. And it's 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past. It doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that's what I think." Many viewed her comments as being critical of Scurry's performance, although Solo released an apologetic statement the following day saying that was not her intent. On September 29, 2007, coach Greg Ryan announced that Solo would not be with the team and would not play in the third-place match against Norway the following day. Team captain Kristine Lilly stated that the decision on Solo was made by the team as a group. The U.S. went on to win against Norway 4"1.

Solo was named to the U.S. women's national soccer team roster for the post-World Cup tour, but she did not attend the first workout ahead of the first game against Mexico. Even though the players' contract with the federation stipulated that anyone on the World Cup roster had the right to play in the tour, she did not play in any of the three games against Mexico, being replaced by Briana Scurry for the first and third matches, and Nicole Barnhart for the second. The third match against Mexico, on October 20, 2007, marked the end of the U.S. women's national team's 2007 season. The team regrouped in January 2008 to begin preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Ryan left the team after his contract was not renewed in December 2007.

2008 Summer Olympics

On June 23, 2008, it was announced Solo would be the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In a reversal of roles from the 2004 Olympics, Briana Scurry did not make the team, though she was an alternate. On August 21, the U.S. women's team won the gold medal by defeating Brazil 1"0 in extra time, in no small measure due to Solo's performance as she stopped an energetic Brazilian attack, making save after save. After the team won gold, Solo appeared on NBC Today Show, and she stated in a 2012 article appearing in ESPN The Magazine that she was drunk while on air. "When we were done partying, we got out of our dresses, got back into our stadium coats and, at 7 a.m. with no sleep, went on the Today show drunk."

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

Despite missing much of the qualifying campaign with a shoulder injury, Solo was named to the U.S. roster for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany. After keeping clean sheets in group C wins over North Korea and Colombia, Solo conceded two goals in the 2"1 loss to Sweden which consigned the Americans to second place in the group and a quarterfinal meeting with Brazil.

The quarterfinal match between the U.S. and Brazil was sent into a penalty shoot-out after U.S. forward Abby Wambach tied the game at 2"2 in stoppage time at the end of extra-time. Solo saved the third Brazil penalty kick by Daiane, helping the U.S. secure a semifinal spot against France. After the quarterfinal victory, Solo commented on the performance and spirit of the U.S. players during the match, "Even when we were a player down and a goal behind in extra time, you sensed that something was going to happen", and added that "[the] team kept fighting. You can't teach that. It's a feeling " and we play with that feeling."

Solo became the twenty-seventh American woman, and second goalkeeper, to reach 100 caps with her start in the 3"1 semifinal win over France. Talking to the media after the match, Solo reflected upon the tournament so far, "It was a hard-fought road [...] It hasn't been easy, but this is where we expected to be. We came this far, we better go all the way."

In the final, the U.S. team lost 3"1 in a penalty shootout to Japan, after twice taking the lead in an eventual 2"2 draw. Solo expressed admiration for the Japanese team and offered her congratulations. Solo won the "Golden Glove" award for best goalkeeper, and the "Bronze Ball" award for her overall performance. She was also featured in the "All-star" team of the tournament.

2012 Summer Olympics

Leading up to the Summer Olympics, Solo received a public warning from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after a June 15 urine test concluded the banned substance Canrenone had been detected. Solo said in a statement she had been prescribed a pre-menstrual medication and was not aware it contained any banned substances. She cooperated with the USADA and provided them with the necessary information to prove that it was a mistake. Her story checked out and she was cleared with a public warning. The positive test did not require Solo to withdraw from any pre-Olympic matches.

In a 4"2 defeat of France in the opening match, France took an early 2"0 lead in 15 minutes. After Abby Wambach reduced the lead to 2"1 with a 19th minute header off a Megan Rapinoe corner kick, Solo assisted Alex Morgan at the 32nd minute to score and level the match at 2"2; she took a free-kick sending the ball to Morgan who kicked the ball after a bounce, over goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi into the goal.

On August 9, Hope Solo won her second Olympic gold medal with the United States women's national soccer team. In a 2"1 defeat of Japan in the final match, Solo made many saves, including a 82nd minute save of a powerful shot from Mana Iwabuchi, which could have tied the match.

Hope Solo had three shutouts, two in group-stage against Colombia with 3"0 and Korea DPR with 1"0, and a 2"0 win against New Zealand in the quarter-final. She conceded 6 goals, 3 in the aforementioned matches against France and Japan. Three goals were conceded to Christine Sinclair in the semi-final, a thrilling 4"3 extra-time last-minute win against Canada. She is one of three players in the USA team who played all 570 minutes in all six matches. Captain Christie Rampone and defender Kelley O'Hara coincidentally have exactly the same statistics, including 1 assist each.

Honors

International

United States

• Algarve Cup (5): 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
• Four Nations Tournament (3): 2006, 2007, 2008
• CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup (1): 2006
• Olympic Gold Medal (2): 2008, 2012
• FIFA Women's World Cup Runner-up: 2011

Individual

• WPS Goalkeeper of the Year (1): 2009
• FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Glove (1): 2011
• FIFA Women's World Cup Bronze ball (1): 2011
• FIFA Women's World Cup All-Star Team (1): 2011

Personal Life

Solo is married to former American football player Jerramy Stevens. They have been together since mid-August 2012 when Solo returned from the Olympics. On November 12, 2012, Stevens was arrested on investigation of assault following an altercation that left Solo injured. The following day, Stevens was released after determining there was not enough evidence to hold the former American football star. The pair was wed on November 13, 2012.

Other Activities

Television shows

Solo was a contestant on the Autumn 2011 13th season of Dancing with the Stars television series. Her partner was Maksim Chmerkovskiy and she was eliminated in the semi-final round.

Week #	Dance/Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Viennese Waltz/ "Satellite"	7	7	7	Safe
2	Jive/"Girlfriend"	6	7	6	Safe
3	Cha-Cha-Cha/"Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)"	8	8	8	Last to be called Safe
4	Foxtrot/"You've Got a Friend in Me"	8	8	8	Safe
5	Tango/"Livin' on a Prayer"	8	8	8	Last to be called Safe
6	Rumba/"Seasons of Love"	7	6	7	Last to be called Safe
	Group Broadway Dance/"Big Spender" & "Money Money"	No Scores Given
7	Samba/"Werewolves of London"	8	8	8	Safe
	Team Paso Doble/"Bring Me To Life"	9	8	9
8	Quickstep/"Valerie"	9	9	9	Safe
	Instant Jive/"The Best Damn Thing"	8	9	8
9	Paso Doble/"Can't Be Tamed"	7	7	7	Eliminated
	Argentine Tango/"Whatever Lola Wants"	8	8	8
	Cha-Cha-Cha Relay/"I Like How It Feels"	Awarded	4	Points

Modeling

In 2011, Hope Solo appeared nude in The Body Issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Autobiography

On August 14, 2012, after the London Olympics, Hope Solo released her autobiography Solo: A Memoir of Hope coauthored with sports columnist and commentator Ann Killion and published by Harper Collins. In her book she provided her accounts of incidents with former U.S. national coach Greg Ryan, and her Dancing with the Stars' partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She recounted her integration into the U.S. team with established players like Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, and Julie Foudy. Hope also revealed details of her early life. The autobiography debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times hardcover non-fiction best seller list, the highest ever for a soccer book.