Mallory Swanson’s two quick goals led the U.S. women’s soccer team to an easy 3-0 victory over Zambia on Thursday in its first match at the Olympics.
But Swanson’s road to get there was anything but easy.
Swanson tore a tendon in her knee and missed the 2023 World Cup. She didn’t even make the Tokyo Olympics squad in 2021. The last time she played in the Summer Games was in Rio in 2016.
Swanson returned to the major international stage in dazzling fashion. After Trinity Rodman scored the first goal of the match, which was played in Nice, France, Swanson booted in her two scores in just 66 seconds.
Fans and media loved it. The U.S. might need her scoring punch again when it faces a much tougher test against Germany on Sunday. But for now, people were reveling in her comeback.
“So good to see Mallory Swanson back healthy and scoring again,” one person wrote on X. “She looks so happy.”
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