The U.S. currently enjoys the benefit of a three-headed monster on offense, with Mallory Swanson firmly established as one of them.
Swanson joins teammates Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith (and technically a four-headed monster if you add in longtime striker Crystal Dunn) in leading a national team that is the favorite to win a medal after beating Australia 2-1 in its final group-stage game on Wednesday.
Swanson, who was known as Mallory Pugh before marrying Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson in 2022, has had a longstanding relationship with the U.S. national team, dating back to the youth stage.
Here are five things to know about her as she continues to make her mark in America’s gold medal quest.
She’s already an Olympic record holder for the U.S. women’s soccer team.
Swanson was a member of the U.S. women’s team that reached the quarterfinals at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. At age 17, she became the youngest player to score a goal at the Olympics, male or female, in the history of the U.S. Olympic Soccer Team. That same year, Swanson became the youngest player in the history of the women’s national team to debut, surpassing former U.S. women’s national team player Heather O’Reilly.
She was playing with the boys
We’re not sure what’s more impressive: the fact that Swanson played for the same youth club as her USWNT Big 3 teammate Smith, or that she trained regularly with the men’s team while playing for Real Colorado, a developmental youth program. Since we can’t decide, we’ll just go with the fact that she led the women’s team to two state and regional titles during her time there.
She was prepared to support her husband.
According to a 2023 USA Today interview, Swanson’s husband, Dansby, was embroiled in free agency with his status with the Chicago Cubs unclear, while Swanson said he had signed a deal with the NWSL that allowed him to move to a league team near the city where her husband was being transferred. We didn’t even know that was a thing. In Swanson’s case, we’ll never know, after Dansby earned a seven-year, $177 million contract to play in Chicago and Mallory stayed in Chicago with the NWSL’s Red Stars.
She was a college athlete…
Overwhelmed with youth and senior national team responsibilities, she was forced to postpone her acceptance to play at UCLA as rumors circulated that she planned to skip college and go pro. In the end, she only played a handful of spring games, but ultimately the rumors proved true as she made the jump to the NWSL ranks in 2017.
She is approaching 100 games for the U.S. women’s national team.
Swanson has played for the U.S. national team for nine years, appearing in 97 games across all tournaments, and could win both a gold medal and his 100th cap on the same day if the U.S. advances to the gold medal game and wins.
