Megan Rapinoe’s twin sister Rachael says she is “overwhelmed with emotion” for the US Women’s National Soccer Team after the side claimed a bronze medal at Tokyo 2020.
Rachael is a former footballer herself and previously played for the US Under 23s team. Sadly, however, injuries blighted her career and prevented her from playing more with Megan –– though the pair did win the National Championship together at the University of Portland in 2005.
Nowadays, Rapinoe works away from football and has started her own CBD company, Mendi, while continuing to support her sister.
In an interview with NBCSNW, the 36-year-old opened up her relationship with Megan and what it was like supporting her twin at the Olympics this summer.
Addressing the pair’s different personalities, Rachael said: “Megan is so much more front and centre and she’s very comfortable just putting herself out there, being vulnerable, wearing her heart on her sleeve.
“Whereas I am much quieter and reserved and definitely more private and kind of always take the approach of chipping away at things behind the scenes.
“I think our personalities are a nice compliment to each other. She pushes me to put myself out there more, just to be more confident, to care less about the critics and what people are going to say.”
As reigning world champions, the US were expected to challenge for gold at Tokyo this year but struggled throughout the competition.
Despite this, Rachael is proud of what Megan herself achieved on a personal level.
“This one is just special, for a lot of different reasons. We’re 36 now, so she’s a little bit older. I haven’t talked to her about what her plans are beyond this, but she’s kind of nearing the end of her career. So at the end of the day, I’m so proud of what she’s accomplished.”
The US were subject to widespread criticism for their performance at the Games, with many questioning whether veterans such as Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd still deserved a spot in the side.
Former US President Donald Trump also branded the team “leftist maniacs” and blamed Rapinoe’s “wokeism” for the side’s results.
"They should replace the wokesters with Patriots and start winning again,” Trump claimed.
“The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job!”
Rachael, however, is immensely pleased with how the team performed in the circumstances, even though they did not come with a gold medal.
“I’m overwhelmed with emotion and pride that she was able to walk away with a bronze, especially because [Team USA] didn’t have a great tournament. They didn’t have the tournament that they had hoped [for].”
Even though the US soccer team could only claim bronze, Megan Rapinoe’s partner Sue Bird won her fifth Olympic gold with the US women’s basketball team.
The pair now have six golds between them and with Paris 2024 to come in just three years, don’t be surprised if they add to this list.