Naomi Girma ’22 made her Olympics debut on Thursday and helped the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) secure a final winning score of 3-0 against Zambia. 

The USWNT team has only 18 players and four substitutes for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Despite the grueling competition, Girma is one of five former Cardinals (Tierna Davidson ’20, Catarina Macario ’21, Sophia Smith ’22 and alternate Jane Campbell ’17) to have secured a spot on the roster. 

Although this is the 24-year-old’s first appearance at the Olympics, Girma has already made a name for herself during her time at The Farm and in international competitions. She helped lead Stanford to the Pac-12 Championship twice in 2018 and 2019, alongside teammate Smith. Girma also played a crucial role in Stanford’s 2019 NCAA National Championship victory and consecutively served as the team captain from 2019 to 2021. 

Following her college years, she was National Women’s Soccer League’s No.1 overall draft pick in 2022 and went on to play for the San Diego Waves. In 2022, she was recognized as the NWSL Rookie of the Year and NWSL Defender of the Year. The following year, Girma was chosen to join the U.S. National Team for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Girma received attention for her exceptional performance in the World Cup, despite USWNT being eliminated in the round-of-16. She was one of only three players on the team to play every minute of the World Cup and was the first defender to be awarded U.S. Soccer’s 2023 Female Player of the Year.

USWNT veteran Megan Rapinoe praised Girma in an interview with Just Women’s Sports.

“It’s tough to step into this team at this level and immediately be like a non-brainer to start,” Rapinoe said. “She’s going to be the future of the team for a long time.” 

Watch Girma in the U.S. National Team’s match against Germany in Group B on Sunday, July 28, at 12 p.m. PST.