Donning red, white and blue at the opening ceremonies in Atlanta for the U.S. women's national soccer team's first Olympic Games bout in 1996 was "awe-inspiring" to soccer legend Brandi Chastain.
Now she is in Connecticut on Wednesday with her Olympic gold medal to visit sponsor Liberty Mutual Insurance's Wallingford office to talk about her Olympics experience and give thanks to their employees for their support.
"Today, I'm just showing my gratitude for them because they make winning these medals possible," Chastain said.
Chastain has won two gold medals (1996, 2004) and a silver one (2000) and was part of the FIFA World Cup championship team in 1999. After retiring from professional soccer, she has worked as a color commentator for NBC Sports and ESPN broadcasts.
She'll meet with three groups of Liberty Mutual employees and share stories with them about her professional soccer career. One of those moments was her iconic winning goal against China in the 1999 World Cup final and historic celebration still shown on television.
"In that moment it was just about being ready..." Chastain said. "You're going to practice and preparing so when you get this chance, you know you've done it."
She said that as an athlete you can't express gratitude enough for sponsoring companies and the "individual people who make it happen." Athletes who haven't reached the professional level yet rely on those sponsors to sustain themselves, she said.
Chastain is now mother of two kids, 25 and 8, and coaches three teams at the collegiate, high school and under-9 levels.
Liberty Mutual Insurance is a sponsor of the United States Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams. Chastain will be visiting the Wallingford insurance office on Barnes Road from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
