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The United States women’s soccer team celebrates their gold medal win on August 10, 2024. Courtesy of the United States Women’s National Team. -
HOUSTON, TX – JUNE 10: Tierna Davidson #12 of the USWNT dribbles during a game between Portugal and the USWNT at BBVA Stadium on June 10, 2021 in Houston, Texas.
Menlo Park native and U.S. women’s national soccer team center back Tierna Davidson helped the U.S. team to the gold medal on Saturday after a nerve-wracking 1-0 win over Brazil.
Although Brazil trailed in the first half, the decisive goal came in the 57th minute, according to a press release from their alma mater, Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton, on August 10. The team attributed the victory to the self-proclaimed “Triple Espresso” forward line – Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman – according to a statement from the team.
This is the second time Davidson, 25, has competed in the Olympics. She was part of the bronze-winning Tokyo Olympic team in the summer of 2021. The team has won five gold medals, in 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012 and this year.
“We are so excited and of course extremely proud of Tierna,” her father Greg Davidson, who is also a math teacher at Sacred Heart, said in a statement. “The fact that she has recovered from her injuries and challenges over the past few years is quite impressive and says a lot about her.”
According to a profile of Davidson on the U.S. Soccer Federation, Davidson left college a year early to be selected in the first round of the draft for the Chicago Red Stars women’s professional soccer team.
According to the school, Davidson’s three seasons of high school football at Sacred Heart are unprecedented in SHP soccer. Each year, her team advanced to the Central Coast Section Championship games. Twice, her team won the sectional title.
At Stanford, she led her team to the 2017 NCAA championship. She was also the youngest player on the U.S. championship team at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
According to Sacred Heart’s press release, Davidson signed with NJ/NY Gotham FC in January of this year after playing five seasons for the Chicago Red Stars.
This is the second Olympic gold medal won by a Sacred Heart graduate in eight years. Water polo player KK Clark won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, according to the school.
