The United States men's soccer teams have not experienced much success in Olympic competition, but the women's teams have. Only three American squads have won a gold medal in the Olympics over the course of more than a century, all by women's teams in the past 15 years. Olympic competition for soccer began in 1900 and has been played in every Olympics since except for one, according to Hickok Sports. Women's competition began in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics. American men did win silver and bronze in 1904, when club teams competed instead of national teams.
First Gold Medal
The women's team won it all at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, to earn the country's first championship. According to Team U.S., 76,481 fans watched the United States beat China 2-1, and that attendance was the largest ever for a female sporting event at the time. Shannon MacMillan and Tiffeny Milbrett scored the goals for the Americans. To get to the gold medal game, Team USA beat Norway and Sweden and tied with the Chinese team it later beat in the final. Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain, Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Carin Gabarra, Mia Hamm, Mary Harvey, Kristine Lilly, Carla Overbeck, Cindy Parlow, Tiffany Roberts, Briana Scurry, Tisha Venturini and Staci Wilson also were on the team.
Second Gold Medal
Finishing off a year in which it won every tournament it played in, the USA women's team won the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. It took a 2-1 triumph over Brazil to earn America's second gold medal in soccer. Lindsay Tarpley scored first, in the 38th minute, then Brazil tied the match in the 73rd minute. Abby Wambach scored the game winner for the Americans in the 112th minute. The Americans beat Greece, Brazil twice and Japan, while tying Australia. Also on the squad were Briana Scurry, Christie Rampone, Heather O'Reilly, Brandi Chastain, Cat Reddick, Shannon Boxx, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, Joy Fawcett, Kate Markgraf, Heather Mitts, Angela Hucles, Aly Wagner, Cindy Parlow and Kristin Luckenbill.
Third Gold Medal
The 2008 women's team finished the season 33-1-2, culminating in a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. The .944 winning percentage is the best for an American team in a calendar year, even though the team lost its Olympic opener 2-0 to Norway. From there, Team USA beat Japan twice, Norway, New Zealand, Canada and Brazil. Hope Solo, Heather Mitts, Christie Rampone, Lindsay Tarpley, Natasha Kai, Shannon Boxx, Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd, Kate Markgraf, Angela Hucles, Lori Chalupny, Rachel Buehler, Amy Rodriguez, Aly Wagner, Lauren Cheney, Tobin Heath, Stephanie Cox and Nicole Barnhart were on the roster.
Men's Recent Performance
The last time an American men's soccer squad played in the Olympics was in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The men's team qualified and got off to a good start in pool play by knocking off Japan 1-0. The American men tied the Netherlands 2-2 and lost to Nigeria 2-1, which wasn't good enough to advance to the next round.
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