Mia Hamm played as a forward for the US women’s national soccer team and is considered the best female soccer player in history. She was born with a club foot and had to wear corrective shoes as a toddler. At 15 years old she joined the US women’s national team and was the youngest to ever play for them. Hamm has played in three Olympic Games and won a gold medal in 1996, a silver medal in 2000 and a gold medal in 2004.

In 1999 Hamm founded the Mia Hamm Foundation, in memory of her brother who died due to a rare blood disease. The organization helps fund bone marrow research. In 2004, she retired so that she could start a family.