Out soccer star Megan Rapinoe has announced that she will retire at the end of the 2023 season. This year’s World Cup will be her last. But Rapinoe hasn’t just dominated on the field. She’s also championed women’s and the LGBTQ+ community’s rights off the field.
“I have this incredible privilege and platform and hope that I can turn that into rocket fuel for the next phase of everything,” Rapinoe told TIME Magazine for this week’s cover story. “I want to make the world a better place. And I will pull that lever slowly, relentlessly, and ruthlessly, forever.”
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From leading the fight for equal pay for female soccer players to proudly standing against attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, Rapinoe’s most significant contribution to America may be her unwavering commitment to solidarity with marginalized people. Whether it was taking a knee in support of Colin Kaepernick in 2016 or defending trans athletes in 2023, here are seven times that Rapinoe has been a true champion.
Click through to recap her extraordinary career both on and off the field.