Rose Lavelle Is Betting On A Comeback

It was a movie-perfect goal. Rose Lavelle, midfielder for the U.S. Women’s National Team, took possession of the ball and charged straight down the middle of the field, threading the needle between four Netherlands defenders before slicing the ball into the back right corner of the net and jumping into the arms of her teammate Alex Morgan. It was a gorgeous goal — “a beautiful solo effort” described as “one of the best World Cup finals goals” in recent memory — and a game-changer in the 2019 World Cup Final.

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Lavelle made her first appearance with the USWNT at age 21, scoring her first goal for the team a month later in a 2017 match against Russia. She’s consistently appeared in USWNT training camps and tournaments since then, but the 2019 World Cup was Lavelle’s breakout summer. She captured the spotlight as the winningest team in history was at the peak of its global domination, establishing herself as a killer midfielder and highly entertaining player — she even brought home the Bronze Ball, awarded to the third best player of the tournament.

A lot has happened in the five years since. In 2021, Lavelle and the squad brought home a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics. In 2022, the USWNT finally won equal pay. Then, in 2023, during the most recent FIFA Women’s World Cup, the team left fans reeling after a stunning defeat in the Round of 16 — their earliest elimination in World Cup history.

You learn the most about yourself during the low points, and I definitely feel like that holds true [for this team].

In 2024, Lavelle and her teammates find themselves in an unfamiliar position. They’re heading into the Paris Olympics as underdogs.

“When you experience failure, sometimes you don't want to talk about it — like, it's not a fun memory,” says Lavelle, who’s 29. She’s zooming from a sunny corner of her New Jersey apartment on a spring evening after practice with her professional team, Gotham FC. “We didn't shy away from those conversations about what went wrong.”

As the team prepares for a hopeful comeback in Paris, Lavelle talks to Bustle about advice she got from Abby Wambach, adversity, and her first-ever beauty partnership.

You’ve played with some of the biggest names in soccer, who’ve been leaders on and off the field — Abby Wambach, Carli Loyd, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan. What’s the most valuable life lesson you’ve learned from the vets?

There’s a big one. My first camp was Abby Wambach’s last camp before she retired. It was our last meeting before the game, and she was like, “For the younger players who are here, this environment is not easy. It's really hard, and it's not that it ever gets easier, but the people who are here the longest will make it look easy.”

That was such a good lesson to hear. Being in this environment, it's always going to be hard. It just becomes a new type of hard as you evolve and grow. That really set my expectations for what it means to be on this team and how much you have to give of yourself to stay on the team.

That’s such good general life advice, too. It doesn't get easier, but you get better at handling it.

An overarching thing I learned from the players who are older than me is that being part of the U.S. Women's National Team means being a voice for something bigger than yourself. It kind of comes with wearing the jersey, being a voice for people who don't have a voice or don't have the platform we have.

Women in sports, out of necessity, often have dual roles: to be amazing athletes, and be activists on behalf of women’s equality. How do you balance that?

Some people are born for those kinds of roles; it comes naturally to them. Unfortunately I’m not one of them, which is why it's been great to have so many amazing people to learn from. That’s something I think about a lot: how to be more comfortable being more vocal and put myself out there on behalf of the team.

The USWNT is in the midst of a generational shift. Veterans Megan Rapinoe, Ali Krieger, Julie Ertz, and Sam Mewis have all retired, and you’re moving into a leadership role as one of only nine players on the roster with Olympic experience. How are you thinking about that transition?

When I came onto the National Team, I came at a unique time: There were a lot of really amazing veteran players, but my friends were coming up with me, too. I got the best of both worlds. Playing with [the veterans] for so many years set me and my age cohort up for success. [They taught us] how to respond to adversity and the mentality we have to bring every day in training.

It's weird to think that I'm in this [veteran] position now. It feels like yesterday that I was one of the younger players, but I think I've just had really good people to learn from.

So many women around the world were galvanized by your fight for equal pay. How has your career changed now that you have it?

The obvious one is that I’m making more money, which is nice. It allows you to commit more to your craft.

I hope the sport gets to a place where players aren’t talking about what they want to do [for work] after they’re done playing. Like my main concern doesn’t have to be what's the next avenue for me to make money because how much I'm making right now is still not going to suffice once I retire.

Paris will be the first Olympics in history to have an equal number of men and women athletes competing. What sport are you most excited to see, and is there an athlete who’d be a dream for you to meet?

Oh my gosh, OK. I love Olympic gymnastics. It's so fun to watch, so obviously I would love to meet Simone Biles. I also love Coco Gauff. She's such an amazing athlete. She's so young, but she handles herself so well with all the pressure and media [attention].

It feels like women’s sports is finally getting its moment. The hype is everywhere. Sponsorship is a really exciting piece of that. Athletes who haven't traditionally had access to big commercial brand partnerships, brands that haven't gotten into the women's sports game before, it's all happening. You just signed your first-ever beauty partnership with Olay to launch the brand’s new cleansing melts. What does this partnership mean to you?

I'm so into skin care and hair care, but this also goes along with my lifestyle, because I'm an athlete and I'm always sweating. I have to be much more on top of my skin care and feeling really clean. The cleansing melts are so easy to travel with.

So they’ll be in your carry-on on the way to Paris?

Yes, they’re really tiny. When you're someone who travels a lot, having something really small to be able to pack is so convenient. It's something I can pop in my purse before I go to practice. It's just something that's really complemented my current lifestyle and has helped me clean my face and feel good in my everyday life.

The USWNT has had a bumpy run since the 2023 World Cup. How has that impacted your mentality going into the Olympics this summer?

Just this year, we've faced a lot of adversity and I think the response has been amazing. That's exactly what you want to see heading into a major tournament. We've learned and gone through a lot in the past year. You learn the most about yourself during the low points, and I definitely feel like that holds true [for this team], and that’s going to be invaluable this summer.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.