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Brandi Chastain (born July 21, 1968) is a former soccer player and current broadcaster with ABC/ESPN on their coverage of Major League Soccer who was with the United States women's national soccer team from 1991 to 2004. She also played for the San Jose CyberRays. Chastain is married to Santa Clara University women's soccer coach, Jerry Smith. The two are expecting their first child in 2006.
She attended Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California, helping take the team to three state championships.
Chastain enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley in 1986, where she was awarded the Soccer America Freshmen Player Of The Year award. Soon after this she underwent reconstructive surgery on both her knees which caused her to miss much of the 1987 and 1988 seasons. In 1989, she transferred to Santa Clara University, leading their soccer team to two final four NCAA appearances before graduating in 1990.
Chastain first represented her country on April 18, 1991, against Mexico. She came off the bench to score five consecutive goals in a 12-0 United States win, in what was a qualifying game for the first FIFA Women's World Cup. Team USA went on to win the World Cup, staged in China, in the same year. Chastain next participated with the national team in the 1993 CONCACAF championships of New York, another tournament which the Americans won. Later in 1993 she joined the West Team, which won the gold medal at the Texas Olympic Festival.
Her first stint as a member of the national team came to an end on August 8, 1993, but she made the team once again in 1996 and participated in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games at defender, helping the Americans win the gold medal.
About the bra
Chastain became a household name in 1999, when, after scoring the fifth penalty kick that gave the United States the win over China in the final game of that year's Women's World Cup, she celebrated by ripping off her jersey and falling to her knees in a sports bra, her fists clenched in triumph. The photo of her celebration, which made the cover of Time, Newsweek, People, and Sports Illustrated, became an icon of female athleticism. She was signed to a million dollar contract by Nike afterwards. Playboy also made her an offer, which she declined.
Later career
Chastain played on the US women's national team until her last game on December 6, 2004. She played on the San Jose CyberRays in the Women's United Soccer Association from its formation in 2001 until its suspension in 2003.
She currently lives in Santa Clara, California, where her husband, Jerry Smith, is the women's soccer coach at Santa Clara University.
Chastain's website and a book she wrote about women's competitive sports are titled It’s Not About the Bra.
Quote
On what took place after the penalty kick at the 1999 World Cup: “Momentary insanity, nothing more, nothing less. I wasn’t thinking about anything. I thought, ‘This is the greatest moment of my life on the soccer field.’”
Trivia
- Her famous celebration was parodied in a Nike commercial from 2000. In it, she plays foosball with NBA player Kevin Garnett. After she scores a goal, Kevin and his friends look at her expectantly until finally Brandi asks, "What?" to which Kevin replies, "What's up with the shirt?"
- Brandi appeared on the game show The Weakest Link on a special episode with American Olympians. She won, earning money for the charity she was representing. She had also appeared on Jeopardy! in Las Vegas, and won $15,000 for the charity she represented, winning with the lowest possible winning score, $1.
See also
External links
- Brandi Chastain's U.S. Olympic Team bio
- Links and many photos
- Official site with the bra shot on the splash page
- Site featuring the Nike commercial
1968 births | Living people | Female football (soccer) players | Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics | San Joseans | American soccer players | Olympic soccer players of the United States | United States women's international soccer players
"Brandi Chastain"