Why is mia hamm famous

Hamm was among those eager to develop their sports ability, but first she had to overcome the birth defect of a partial clubfoot. The family moved around frequently since Hamm's father, Bill, was a fighter pilot with the U. Air Force. Her mother, Stephanie, was a former ballerina. Hamm discovered soccer as a toddler, when the family moved to Italy, a country enamored with the sport.

And she was taking away a soccer ball from a kid that was 5 years old, and she was maybe 2," Cruickshank said. That same year, her parents adopted an 8-year-old Thai-American orphan named Garrett. Hamm said her older brother was a playmate and an athletic role model for her. The youngsters played soccer together, coached by their father.

Accustomed to competing with boys, Hamm thought nothing of joining a boy's football team when she was in the seventh grade. Later, Hamm decided to focus on soccer. John Cossaboon coached her on a North Texas regional team when she was The two were married in In , the U. Garrett had been fighting a rare blood disorder called aplastic anemia since he was Just before the Olympics, his condition worsened.

But when the U. Garrett died the following year at age 28 after a bone marrow transplant. When she retired from soccer in , she held the most career goals of any person regardless of gender in international soccer play. Today she holds the third most career goals in international soccer play. Mia Hamm , photographed by Rick Chapman in Title IX banned gender discrimination in any federally funded education programs or activities. It opened new opportunities in sports to girls and women.

The member U. It was actually very intense. There was a natural competition. And I love the fact that he was accepting and open to that. We had a blast making it. Why has that been an important cause for you? I just know how it empowered me. I was a really young, shy kid who was also from a military family, so we moved every years. And sports was an easy way to make a connection when we moved to a new base, a new town to people with similar interests.

And I think it really helped give me confidence not only with that move but with feeling that I could contribute. I hope so. You just look at women in high-powered positions in top companies and a lot of them will attribute their time in organized sports as something that really made a difference and had an impact in their lives.

And to see that confidence grow in a young girl is so important because I think boys are naturally encouraged to do those things, and the opportunities to do it for our daughters is so important.

I know that your World Cup win had a huge impact on my generation in terms of the number of girls it inspired to play soccer. In , Hamm set a new record for most international goals scored when she made her th goal for the U. Hamm held that title until June , when her record was broken by fellow American player Abby Wambach. In , Hamm married her college sweetheart, Christiaan Corry. The couple split in , and Hamm married professional baseball player Nomar Garciaparra in After helping her team win gold at the Summer Olympics, Hamm retired to start a family.

In , Hamm founded the Mia Hamm Foundation, which is dedicated to bone marrow research, after her brother, Garrett, died of complications from a rare blood disease called aplastic anemia shortly after the Olympics. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!