Abby Wambach celebrates Canada’s 5-2 win over Japan at the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
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Abby Wambach celebrates Canada’s 5-2 win over Japan at the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
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Comments from wild card Host Rachel Martin: Our lives all take unexpected turns, don’t we? But let’s be honest, some people have more than most. I would put Abby Wambach in that camp. Here’s the short version of what happened.
She is a global American soccer star who has won two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup title. She also holds the U.S. women’s goalscoring record and man. She is on top of the world. When she retired in 2015, life became disorienting. It turned out that she had been hiding her drinking problem, and about five months later she got behind the wheel while drunk. Then comes recovery and personal reckoning.
She wrote a book about it all, then went to an event to promote the book, and ended up meeting the woman who would become her second wife, author Glennon Doyle. Today, she’s a stepmom of three, a leadership coach, and co-host of her popular podcast with Doyle. we can do hard things.
I mean, she’s only 44, and Abby Wambach has been through at least three lifetimes. On her show, you can hear all the things Wambach learned during those lives.
If you’re feeling a little frustrated for whatever reason, watch Wambach’s winning goal against Brazil in the 2004 Olympic gold medal game (at 2:07:30 in the clip below). just do it. You will feel happier. Believe me.
Abby Wambach’s goal against Brazil in 2004.
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This Wild Card interview has been edited for length and clarity. Host Rachel Martin asks guests questions randomly selected from a deck of cards. Click play above to listen to the full podcast, or read an excerpt below.
Question 1: When you were bored as a child, where did your imagination take you?
Abby Wambach: When I was growing up, there were no female athletes to watch on television. Basically, you know, Michael Jordan. So I see him winning a lot of championships after scoring at the last second. So when I’m bored, I’ll imagine a ball coming from the sideline into the penalty area, and I’ll imagine myself scoring a goal at the last second.
So when these moments start to actually happen, I often have this moment in my head. Thanks to imagination, I never stopped believing that we could achieve this moment. People always ask me: “How do you score so many big goals in such important moments?” There are many reasons for this, but I think the first step is to believe and imagine that you can do it before you act.
Rachel Martin: I mean, it’s so powerful. Nowadays, everyone is talking about manifestation, right? Like, you just think about it and it happens. But this is like a very obvious example.
Wambach: Yes. I mean, my wife, it drives her crazy because I’m so optimistic and sometimes that leads me astray. But if you want something in life, it’s not just that you’re ready for it, it’s that this moment has already happened.
Question 2: Has your view of success changed over time?
Wambach: I don’t think it’s necessarily changed. I think the context of my life has changed. I think it was a sense of self-esteem that determined my success. My definition of success is, how do I feel about myself today?
Because I’ve been very successful. I’m sure that when we watch the Olympic gold medal ceremony, the athletes standing on the highest podium will feel very good about themselves. But the moment was fleeting. You have to wake up tomorrow and feel good about yourself.
Martin: There was no fanfare.
Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle attend the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation’s 49th Annual Gracie Awards in May.
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Wambach: Yes. I think it’s really cool to get a gold medal. I think that’s really cool. But let me tell you, after winning the gold medal and still being weeks away from the Olympics, I still have to look at myself in the mirror and say, “How do I feel about myself today? What did I do today to feel good about myself?”
I can’t expect to be an Olympic gold medalist and have that be something that sustains me my whole life. Because it doesn’t work. What we did in the past does not justify how we feel now. So I don’t think my perspective on success has changed because I’ve always held that belief, but I think my definition of what makes me feel good every day has changed throughout my life.
Question 3: Are you comfortable with being forgotten?
Wambach: I am. When I retired, Gatorade pitched me a commercial they wanted to film for my retirement race. When I read the storyboard, I started crying because the idea of this ad was “forget about me.” Because if I’m forgotten, then I know the game has grown and the game has gotten better. If I am forgotten, someone else takes my place. This is the natural order of the world.
Wambach said she feels comfortable being forgotten.
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I believe records are meant to be broken. I believe that growth, especially the growth of our women’s football team ten years ago, is necessary and necessary, not only possible, but inevitable. So I think we should all live like this. I think we should all lay our cards on the table and leave it on the floor, whatever you want to say. In the end, if you’re forgotten, it means you were here doing the right thing, making the world a little better just by existing.
The funniest thing is, about five or six years ago, I was coaching my kids’ rec league team. We’re warming up for the championship game. I told them about when I retired. One of the players said, “Wait, do you play football?” I said yes. She said, “Who are you playing for?” I said, “The United States of America.” She said, “Oh. Do you know Alex Morgan?” I was like, Oh my gosh, we need to be careful what we wish for, steal look. So yeah, forget about me.
