What Happened to Hope Solo? Inside the Soccer Star’s Public Scandals, Legal Troubles and Life Today

The former goalkeeper, who was forced into retirement in 2016, is the subject of Netflix’s ‘Untold: Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer’

Hope Solo’s fall from soccer stardom was years in the making.

From 2000 to 2016, Solo was the goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s national soccer team. The legendary athlete helped the team win two Olympic gold medals and a FIFA World Cup title before she was forced to hang up her cleats.

The avalanche of life-changing events all started on Nov. 12, 2012, after Solo’s now-husband, Jerramy Stevens, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting her. The couple shocked fans by getting married the following day.

Over the past decade, Stevens and Solo have remained married but their legal troubles only worsened. The former USWNT player was arrested in 2014 after an alleged domestic violence incident, though the case was later dismissed. The former NFL player was arrested in 2015 for driving under the influence.

“Clearly, I wasn’t thinking. It was a horrible choice,” Solo said during an interview with ABC News in 2015 regarding the night her husband was arrested. “It was stupid. We should have called a taxi.”

The soccer star faced a similar situation in 2022 — this time, she was in the driver’s seat. Police arrested Solo on March 31 for driving while intoxicated with her twins in the car. She later pled guilty to the charge and entered an in-patient alcohol treatment facility.

In September 2024, Netflix released volume 4 of its sports docuseries Untold. The season comprised three episodes, including “Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer,” which “unpacks the unique mix of glory and scandal that accompanied her rise to a level of fame that transcended her sport.”

From winning two Olympic gold medals to a stint in rehab, here is everything to know about Hope Solo, including where she is now.

Who is Hope Solo?

Solo, born in Richland, Washington, was the goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s national soccer team from 2000 to 2016. Her career accomplishments include winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2012 London Olympics and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

“Goalkeeping is a very difficult position. You’re kind of the hero or the [scape]goat,” she said during an interview on CBS Mornings in February 2016. “Goalkeeping is something that you can never really master. That’s why I never want to walk away.”

In 2016, shortly before being suspended from the team, Solo became the first goalie, man or woman, to record 100 shutouts in international competition.

Why did Hope Solo retire from soccer?

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the U.S. women’s national soccer team, who were favored to win gold, lost to Sweden and finished fifth overall.

Solo took the loss hard and made a few unsportsmanlike comments during the post-game press conference.

“I thought we played a courageous game,” she said. “But I also think we played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today … Sweden dropped off. They didn’t want to open play. They didn’t want to pass the ball. They didn’t want to play great soccer.”

The soccer star’s comments spread like wildfire, and in August 2016, U.S. Soccer terminated Solo’s contract for what the organization termed conduct “counter to the organization’s principles.”

Is Hope Solo married?

Solo and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Stevens, who had only been dating for two months before obtaining a marriage license, got married on Nov. 13, 2012.

Their wedding took place a mere 24 hours after Stevens was arrested on suspicion of assaulting Solo. According to court documents, the couple were arguing about whether to wed in Florida or Washington state.

In 2015, Stevens was arrested for driving drunk in Manhattan Beach, Calif. He was behind the wheel of a U.S. team van, and Solo was in the passenger seat. As a repercussion, the goalkeeper was suspended from the team for 30 days. “[I hit] rock bottom,” Solo told PEOPLE at the time.

Stevens served two days of a 30-day jail sentence and was ordered to complete a two-year alcohol program and four years of probation.

Does Hope Solo have children?

On March 4, 2020, Solo and Stevens welcomed twins, son Vittorio Genghis Stevens and daughter Lozen Orianna Judith Stevens. The pair are also longtime Doberman owners.

“I could never have chosen a better Father for our children,” Solo wrote on Instagram in honor of Father’s Day in 2021.

How many times has Hope Solo been arrested?

Solo has been arrested twice. The first time took place on June 21, 2014, after she was arrested on accusations of hitting her half-sister Teresa Obert and her then-17-year-old nephew during a family gathering at her Kirkland, Wash., home.

According to the incident report, police were told that Hope had “repeatedly punched” Obert and the nephew, a 6-foot-9-inch, 280-pound youth, in the face. He then allegedly “broke” a wooden broom over Solo’s head in an effort to get her to “stop assaulting” his mother.

Solo’s account of that evening is different, however. She claimed that her nephew “hit” her over the head with a broomstick after becoming enraged when she called him “fat and unathletic.”

The soccer player was arrested on two counts of domestic violence assault and taken to jail. In January 2015, a judge dismissed the case after Obert and her son left the state to avoid a court-ordered deposition, and prosecutors withheld information from Solo’s attorneys.

Solo was arrested again on March 21, 2022, on suspicion of driving her two children while intoxicated, after police discovered her passed out behind the wheel of her vehicle in a Walmart parking lot. That July, Solo pleaded guilty to driving while impaired.

“I made a huge mistake. Easily the worst mistake of my life,” she wrote in a statement on Instagram. “I underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become.”

To avoid serving a 24-month jail sentence, Solo paid a $2,500 fine and $600 for the cost of lab tests. She also spent 30 days at an in-patient rehab facility.

What have Hope Solo’s former teammates said about her?

Solo’s exceptional soccer skills are undeniable, but according to U.S. women’s national soccer player Abby Wambach, she was “difficult to work with at times.”

“I respected her ability on the field … Hope and I clashed a lot. … We argued quite a bit,” Wambach shared during a 2016 appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.

That same year, Carli Lloyd addressed Solo’s “cowards” comment.

“Hope is very competitive, and she is one of the all-time best goalkeepers to have ever suited up,” she said on The Rich Eisen Show. “[But] you have to show good character in times of success and in times of loss.”

While competing on season 13 of Dancing with the Stars, Solo was paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The couple placed fourth, but the professional dancer and the Olympian publicly clashed.

“She’s just a shitty person,” he said on the Allegedly with Theo Von & Matthew Cole Weiss podcast. Meanwhile, Solo accused Chmerkovskiy of being “nasty” and “harshly critical” and claimed he slapped her across the face during a rehearsal. Chmerkovskiy denied the allegations.

Where is Hope Solo now?

Following her forced retirement, Solo sued the U.S. Soccer Federation in August 2018 for allegedly violating the federal Equal Pay Act. Her case has not yet gone to trial, according to Just Women’s Sports, however, 28 members of the USWNT filed a similar lawsuit and settled with the Federation in 2022. Solo called the $24 million settlement “unfair.”

Solo continued to speak about the issues plaguing women’s sports on her podcast, Hope Solo Speaks, which ran until April 2023.

In May 2023, Solo was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and twins.

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