Three Colorado natives make USA roster for summer Olympics

When the red, white and blue take the field in France this summer they’ll have a centennial state feel—three Colorado natives are on the United States Women’s National Team roster for this summer’s Olympics in Paris.

On Tuesday, coach Emma Hayes announced her 18-player roster for the games, which includes Colorado’s very own, forwards Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson and midfielder Lindsey Horan.

None of the three players headed to Paris are a surprise unlike star forward Alex Morgan, who was left off the roster. The three-time Olympian and two-time World Cup winner not headed to the games shows the changing of the guard, which features the youngest roster for the Americans since 2008 as the team aims toward the 2027 World Cup. The roster is also shrunk to 18 for the games rather than the 23-player roster for most other international competitions.

This leaves Horan as one of the most recognizable players on the squad. She is the current captain of the team and has been a part of the group since her national team debut in 2013. The Golden native signed to play for Paris Saint-Germain out of Golden High School and is currently a member of Olympique Lyonnais. Horan was the 2021 US Women’s Player of the Year.

She’s joined by two elite forwards in Smith and Swanson. The first is from Windsor, and has been a member of the squad since late 2020. Smith was the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year in 2022 where she led the USWNT in scoring with 11 goals while being voted NWSL MVP, winning the NWSL Championship, and was also voted the Championship Game MVP.

Swanson is back with the elite group of players after missing last year’s World Cup with injury. The Mountain Vista High School graduate from Highlands Ranch was the youngest goal scorer in US history back in the 2016 games. She was last year’s Golden Boot winner for the UWSNT with seven goals.

#Paris2024 ready 🇺🇸

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) June 26, 2024

The three remain atop the USWNT group despite the changes in leadership as former coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned from the U.S. team following last year’s disappointing finish at the World Cup. Hence why only 10 players from that roster are on the Olympic team.

The Lady Yanks seek a fifth gold medal but they have not captured one since 2012. The squad is currently just the fifth-ranked team in international soccer, the lowest ever for the Americans. The team will play two send-off matches before heading to France where they’ll open the games in Nice on July 25 against Zambia.