On March 31, Alex Morgan — along with U.S. Women’s National Team Soccer teammates Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo — announced that they had filed an equal-pay complaint to be paid the same as their counterparts on the men’s national team.
The women’s team has been on fire in recent years, winning gold at the London Olympics as well as the Women’s World Cup in 2015. Meanwhile, the men’s team failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics, for the second Games in a row.
Since the complaint, in which the women claim they’re paid 40 percent of the men’s team wages, Morgan says she has received an overwhelming amount of support.
“It’s surprised us a little bit. Obviously we knew that we would get support, but we didn’t expect so many people to come out in support of us, so many senators and former presidents and [presidential candidates] coming out in support of equal pay and our team, in particular,” the athlete tells Us Weekly. “It’s been really great to see. However, it’s a real fight, not only for us but for a lot of women in the workforce.”
Morgan, married to fellow soccer player Servando Carrasco since December 31, 2014, says she has found support from her husband, who plays for the same club team in Orlando as she does.
“He’s been really great through everything,” the 26-year-old explains. “Obviously, through the complaint and everything, but in general, him playing professional soccer as well, both of our schedules get very crazy sometimes. We always make sure that the most important thing is for us to continue to take time to spend time with each other, away from watching soccer on TV, away from playing soccer, and so that’s definitely high on the importance scale.”
Also high on the importance scale for Morgan is the challenge of being the first soccer team to win back-to-back Olympics and World Cups.
“The goal is to win the Olympic gold medal and to be standing on the top of the podium,” she says. “We’re always up for the challenge.”
To help her win, Morgan relies not only on great training, but a healthy diet which includes Chobani yogurt.
“Chobani is that perfect thing for me to be able to use for my body right after I work out in order to start that recovery process,” she says of her sponsor. “I only feel true to myself if I’m able to partner with companies that I authentically draw parallels from and Chobani is one of those companies. They’re all about being authentic and that’s included in this campaign – no bad stuff.”
To learn more about all the Olympic hopefuls, visit TeamUSA.org. The Olympics begin on August 5 and will be streamed live on NBCOlympics.com and NBC Sports Live Extra.
