m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 1 As an out U.S. Olympic soccer player, Megan Rapinoe's got balls.
Photography by Mike McGregor
Megan Rapinoe is learning to be comfortable in the spotlight. She’s got to
be; it’s enthusiasts who keep soccer alive.
“We need fans; we need people to watch our games,” she says. “I don’t
think it happens like it does in male sports, just because we’re playing.
We do a good job of opening up and having our fans know us. But there’s a
line we don’t cross, because then they will dive in.”
Some fans already have. Who can blame them? Rapinoe -- also a member of the
U.S. women’s national team and a midfielder for the Seattle Sounders Women
-- is one of the most well-known women’s soccer players in the world. So it
’s no wonder she’s inspired some enthusiastic fans—like the German guy
who tattooed her likeness on the back of his calf.
“That was strange—really strange,” she says. “I’m cute, but I’m not
that cute.”
With her unmistakable shock of bleached-blond hair and upbeat personality,
Rapinoe inspired legions of devotees last year after making her first World
Cup appearance as a midfielder on the U.S. women’s team. She had a key role
in the team’s heart-pounding wins and instigated an unforgettable moment
when she grabbed a microphone and sang “Born in the U.S.A.” to the crowd.
Now, obsessed fans collect confessions of undying adoration on Tumblr pages.
She has a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike. And she’ll be traveling to
London to represent the United States at the Olympics this year. It’s a
crowning achievement for the 27-year-old. But Rapinoe has decided to pull
off another landmark in women’s soccer: to come out and publicly discuss
her sexuality.
“I feel like sports in general are still homophobic, in the sense that not
a lot of people are out,” she says. “I feel everyone is really craving [
for] people to come out. People want -- they need -- to see that there are
people like me playing soccer for the good ol’ U.S. of A.”
Not that Rapinoe has been hiding anything; it’s just that no one ever asked
her directly. “I think they were trying to be respectful and that it’s my
job to say, ‘I’m gay.’ Which I am. For the record: I am gay,” she says.
In fact, Rapinoe’s been dating her girlfriend, an Australian soccer player
, for three years, and even brought her home to visit her family in Northern
California last Christmas.
She doesn’t get to see her girlfriend that often, however, since the life
of a world-class soccer player is mainly spent traveling, which means that
her teammates are akin to her closest family. Luckily, Rapinoe feels women’
s teams are generally more accepting. “In female sports, if you’re gay,
most likely your team knows it pretty quickly,” she says. “It’s very open
and widely supported. For males, it’s not that way at all. It’s sad.”
Rapinoe and her fraternal twin, Rachael, grew up the youngest of six
children. They both played soccer competitively until Rachael was critically
injured and sidelined from the game. Rachael remains a passionate supporter
of her sister’s achievements and stressed her admiration of her sister’s
decision to be transparent concerning her personal life. “I think it’s
incredibly brave to use this talent and platform that she’s been blessed
with in a positive way,” Rachael says, “not just on the field, but
providing an example of how to treat people off the field as well.”
Although she finds herself a role model now, Megan’s fixation is on a
sexually ambiguous iconoclast, who, she confesses, partially inspired her
look. “I’m totally obsessed with Tilda Swinton,” Rapinoe says with an
impish smile. “She has this strange, beautiful sexiness about her. I love
everything she does. And I love her hair. It was a little bit of an
inspiration for mine.”
That whimsy translates to the field, as well, where Rapinoe has earned a
reputation as a player with a flashy style. “I definitely like to entertain
,” she says. “Sometimes it just doesn’t work -- or looks
ridiculous. I take it very seriously, but I also like to laugh. I like to
make other people laugh. That’s something really important to me, to have
fun -- always. This game and this life are too serious to not just totally
mess around sometimes.” | m******1
发帖数: 19713 | | k*****e
发帖数: 22013 | 3 你不也是帅T吗？口水啥呀，莫非你搞同T恋，eww，太恶心了。LOL
【在 m******1 的大作中提到】
: 太帅了
: //口水。。。
| m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 4 我是同性恋里的同性恋，哈哈
【在 k*****e 的大作中提到】
: 你不也是帅T吗？口水啥呀，莫非你搞同T恋，eww，太恶心了。LOL
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