Professional athlete Megan Rapinoe is the headline-making co-captain of the United States women's national soccer team. Known for her iconic blonde hair -- which has been dyed lavender during the 2019 FIFA World Cup, she's a midfielder/winger for the Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League.
Here are five more things to know about Rapinoe:
1. She's a twin.
Rapinoe was born July 5, 1985, in Redding, California, to James and Denise Rapinoe. She's the youngest of six children, including her twin sister Rachael. Of her relationship with her twin as children, Megan Rapinoe wrote, " We sound exactly alike, but our personalities couldn't be more different. Rach was the social queen. I was the tomboy. She was chill. I was sweet but also sort of bonkers, emotionally."
2. She's an Olympian.
A member of Team USA, Megan Rapinoe has been to the Olympics twice, once in 2012 and again in 2016. She took home the gold medal at the London games.
3. She's an ally of Colin Kaepernick.
In September 2016, Megan Rapinoe was the first white pro athlete to take a knee during the national anthem. In doing so, she demonstrated her allyship with activist and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who knelt USWNT's during the U.S. national anthem at NFL games in protest of police brutality and to bring awareness to systemic racism in America.
"I haven't experienced over-policing, racial profiling, police brutality or the sight of a family member's body lying dead in the street," Megan Rapinoe wrote in The Players Tribune in October 2016. "But I cannot stand idly by while there are people in this country who have had to deal with that kind of heartache."
As a result, the U.S. Soccer Federation ordered players to stand for the national anthem. She has since been seen at the 2019 Women's World Cup not singing or placing her hand over her heart like the rest of her teammates during the anthem.
4. She's an LGBTQ advocate.
Megan Rapinoe came out as gay in 2012. Since then, she's been an advocate for the LGBTQ community, especially in the world of soccer. In 2015 she was inducted into National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame. When she knelt in protest of the national anthem, she said she was also making the gesture for the gay community.
"Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties," she told American Soccer Now in 2016.
The middler has been a pro ambassador in Athlete Ally, a group with the mission to "end the rampant homophobia and transphobia in sport and to activate the athletic community to exercise their leadership to champion LGBTQ equality."
Last year, Rapinoe and her girlfriend, Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird, made history as the first openly gay couple to appear on the cover of ESPN's Body Issue.
5. She's no fan of Trump.
When asked back in January if she was excited about going to the White House, Megan Rapinoe told Eight By Eight, "I'm not going to the (expletive) White House." The video of her comments, released in June, got under President Donald Trump's skin. He responded in a series of lengthy tweets, which did nothing to change the athlete's stance.
"I stand by the comments that I made about not wanting to go to the White House -- with the exception of the expletive," Rapinoe said. "My mom would be very upset about that."
In May, Rapinoe was quoted by Yahoo Sports as describing Trump as "sexist," "misogynistic," "small-minded," "racist" and "not a good person."
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
