Hamm, Mia (mē`ə) (Mariel Margaret Hamm), 1972–, U.S. soccer player, b. Selma, Ala. The best all-around women's soccer player of her generation, she was perhaps most responsible for making women's soccer a significant American sport. A tireless forward, she played for the Univ. of North Carolina, leading the team to four NCAA titles (1989–90, 1992–93). At 15 she became the youngest person to play for the U.S. national soccer team, which won two Women's World Cups (1991, 1999) and two Olympic gold medals (1996, 2004) while she was a member. When she retired from the U.S. national team in 2004, she held the international record for scoring—for both women and men—with 158 goals. She also played in the short-lived Women's United Soccer Association professional league (2001–3) for the Washington Freedom.

Hamm, Mia

orig. Mariel Margaret Hamm

(born March 17, 1972, Selma, Ala., U.S.) U.S. football (soccer) player. At the age of 15 Hamm became the youngest person ever to play on the U.S. national soccer team. In 1989 she entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and there helped her team win four collegiate championships. She also helped the U.S. team win the World Cup in 1991 and 1999 and the Olympic gold medal in 1996. She broke the all-time international scoring record for either men or women on May 16, 1999, against Brazil with her 108th career goal.