Short Biography

Mariel Margaret Garciaparra (born on March 17, 1972, in Selma, Alabama), best known as Mia Hamm, is a retired American soccer player. Playing for many years as a forward for the United States women`s national soccer team, she scored more international goals in her career than any other player, male or female, in the history of soccer (158). Hamm is one of the most famous athletes in the world, an iconic symbol of women`s sports, and an inspiration and role model to a generation of sports-minded girls. As part of the first generation of women to grow up with gender equality rights after Title IX passed, she received the college scholarships, endorsements and training opportunities necessary to become a top athlete. She was named the women`s FIFA World Player of the Year the first two times that award was given (in 2001 and 2002), and is listed as one of FIFA`s 125 best living players (as chosen by Pelé). Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon called Hamm, "Perhaps the most important athlete of the last 15 years." She retired from the sport in 2004, when she played her last game in the 2004 Fan Celebration Tour to commemorate the U.S. women`s national team`s victory in the 2004 Olympics. In 2007, her first year of eligibility, she was selected for induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame by having 137 votes of the 141 ballots cast. Women`s Professional Soccer, a professional soccer league that launched in 2009, features Hamm`s silhouette in its logo. Hamm was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on March 11, 2008. She is the author of Go For the Goal: A Champion`s Guide to Winning in Soccer and Life. She appeared in the HBO documentary Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women`s Soccer Team.

Hamm was first married on December 17, 1994, to her college sweetheart Christian Corry, a United States Marine Corps pilot, but they divorced in 2001. Hamm married then-Boston Red Sox shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra on November 22, 2003, in Goleta, California in a private ceremony, attended by three hundred guests. On March 27, 2007, Hamm gave birth to twin girls, Grace Isabella and Ava Caroline. Though born five weeks early, each girl weighed over 5 pounds (2.3 kg) at birth. Twins run in both Hamm and Garciaparra`s families.

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