How Soccer Star Hope Solo Is Rebuilding Her Life Since DUI
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It's been a tumultuous decade for former U.S. Women's Soccer goalie Hope Solo. In 2022, she was charged with driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest and misdemeanor child abuse after driving under the influence with her then 2-year-old twins in the car. Years prior to that, she faced allegations of domestic assault and was allegedly a victim of domestic assault herself in a separate case.
Despite these lows, Solo is now focused on rebuilding her health and her life. Here's what we know about what Hope Solo is up to today.
Who is Hope Solo?
Hope Solo was a goalkeeper for Team USA from 2000 to 2016. Over the course of her career, she won a World Cup championship and two Olympic gold medals.
Related: Get to Know Sophia Smith, the Breakout Women's World Cup Star of Team USA
What happened to Hope Solo?
Solo has had a troubling decade. In 2012, ESPN reported that Solo's husband, former NFL tight end Jerramy Stevens, was arrested for fourth-degree domestic assault the day before he and Solo were set to wed. According to ESPN, police reports stated that Stevens and Solo had been arguing at a party over where they would live after they got married, and court documents revealed that Solo suffered an injury to her elbow during an altercation that broke out among several intoxicated partygoers. Ultimately, Stevens wasn't charged.
Two years later, in 2014, Solo was accused of assaulting her half-sister and her nephew. The charges were dismissed in 2015, and Solo released a statement on Facebook. "Today's decision brings closure to what has been one of the most difficult and emotionally draining times of my life," she said.
Solo next faced hardship in 2018, revealing that she suffered a miscarriage that nearly killed her. "The doctor said I was hours from dying," she shared in an interview with Elle the following year. "They ended up having to remove my fallopian tube." (On a happier note, she gave birth to her twins in April 2020.)
Most recently, in March 2022, Solo was arrested for driving while intoxicated and misdemeanor child abuse. She was found asleep in a parking lot while her car was running and her young children were in the back seat.
“I underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become," she wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “I made a huge mistake. Easily the worst mistake of my life.”
Did Hope Solo lose her license?
Following her guilty plea in her DUI case, Solo was ordered by a judge to attend an alcohol treatment program, pay $3,100 in fines and surrender her driver's license. She was also given a 24-month suspended sentence.
How long did Hope Solo play for Team USA?
Solo was the goalkeeper for Team USA from 2000 to 2016. Her USWNT contract was suspended after the 2016 Rio Olympics, during which Solo referred to the Swedish national team as "cowards."
Solo was disappointed by the decision. In a statement released on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, she wrote in part, "For 17 years, I dedicated my life to the U.S. Women’s National Team and did the job of a pro athlete the only way I knew how—with passion, tenacity, an unrelenting commitment to be the best goalkeeper in the world, not just for my country, but to elevate the sport for the next generation of female athletes."
She continued, "In those commitments, I have never wavered. And with so much more to give, I am saddened by the Federation’s decision to terminate my contract."
— Hope Solo (@hopesolo) August 25, 2016
She ran for president of the Soccer Federation in 2018, hoping to advance the campaign for equal pay for women soccer players, but did not win the election.
Related: How Much Money Women's Soccer Players Make—and How Hard They've Had to Work to Get It
Where is Hope Solo now?
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Solo launched a podcast, "Hope Solo Speaks," in March 2022, right before her DUI. She took to the platform to reveal that she and her family made the decision to move from Washington to a farm in North Carolina.
Solo also admitted that she began drinking again during the coronavirus pandemic, which led up to her arrest. She said, "I didn't think I needed help, and I certainly wasn't going to ask for it. At the time, I didn't know that I was only doing a disservice to my family. I thought that I could white-knuckle it. But the reality is that nobody gets through life without asking for help."
She continued, "My sense of strength and pride became my two worst enemies. And I found myself living the worst night of my life. I let alcohol get the better of me in this moment on this god-awful day, and I will suffer the consequences for some time."
Solo still host her podcast in 2023.
