Mia Hamm

Mia Hamm is widely recognized as the world's best all-around women's soccer player and is the World's Leading Scorer in International Competition (male or female). At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Mia brought home a Silver Medal as part of the U.S. Women's Soccer team. In Atlanta at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games she lead her team to Team Gold in front of 80,000 screaming fans in Athens, Georgia. Never in history had so many spectators come out to watch a women's sporting event. Following the 1996 Olympic Games, Mia Hamm quickly became one of the most identifiable female athletes in the world. The 1999 Women's World Cup, where the USA took home the championship in front of 40 million viewers in this country alone, sold over 650,000 tickets, including sellouts at Giants Stadium and the Rose Bowl.

Mia was the youngest player ever to play for the U.S. National Team at age 15 and the youngest player on the World Championship-winning U.S. Team at age 19. Her records in appearances and goals, MVP awards and overall performance put her at the top of the sport. As Phil Knight, Chairman of Nike says "I think we've had three athletes who just played at a level that added a new dimension to their games. That's been Michael Jordan, in basketball, and in some ways Mia Hamm in women's soccer and Tiger Woods in golf." In April of 1999, Nike named the largest building on its corporate campus after Mia.

Following her brother Garrett's death in 1996 from aplastic anemia, Hamm pledged to make a difference by helping others who suffer from the illness. In 1999, Mia formed the Mia Hamm Foundation, a non-profit, national organization dedicated to raising funds and awareness for bone marrow diseases and the development of more opportunities for young women to participate in sport.

Poised, articulate and honest, Mia is a pioneer in her sport and a role model for athletes and fans alike who believe in equal opportunity and the love of the game.

Some of her awards and accomplishments include:

Silver Medal Winner, 2000 Olympics in Sydney Australia, Gold Medal Winner, 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Gold Medal Winner, 1998 Goodwill Games in New York City, Five Time Consecutive Winner, U.S. Soccer Player of the Year, Three Time Winner, U.S. Soccer Federation Female Athlete of the Year, Named to People Magazine's 1997 "50 Most Beautiful People", #14 on Soccer Business International's 1997 "Most Influential People in Soccer", 1997 Women's Sports Foundation Team Athlete of the Year, 1997 Nominee/Finalist, U.S. Olympic Committee's SportsWoman of the Year, 1998 Winner Amateur Athletic Foundation World Trophy, First U.S. player to score 100 goals in her career, 1999 World Championship at Women's World Cup, 1998, 1999 Winner, ESPN's "Espy" award, Female Athlete of the Year, 1998, 1999 Winner, ESPN's "Espy" award, Soccer Player of the Year, Four NCAA Championship titles with University of North Carolina, Three Time Winner All-American and ACC Player of the Year, Silver Medal Winner at the 1993 World University Games, MVP, 1993, 1997 U.S. Women's Cup.

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