Hayes' Olympic win with the USWNT is a story woven with love and loss | Paris Olympic Games 2024

Twelve years ago, Emma Hayes sat next to her father, Sid, at Wembley and watched the U.S. women's national team win its fourth Olympic gold medal. Hayes, after being fired by the Chicago Red Stars, leaned over to the unemployed Sid and, he recalled, said, “Dad, you see those 50 guys out there? I have trained 40 of them.

It was a difficult moment for Sid, who he recalled in an interview with the Guardian in 2021 as the moment he truly understood how good a coach he was.

Unsurprisingly, Hayes' late father, who died last September, featured heavily in interviews with the manager at Saturday's 2024 Olympic final. This time Hayes was sitting in the stands and not watching. When the final whistle went, she stood on the edge of the technical area, her hands balled into fists, her head thrown back and she roared into the air.

81 days after he made his first team as USWNT manager and 76 days after his first coaching with the side, a 1-0 win over Brazil in the final, Hayes has an Olympic gold medal — figuratively, head coaches don't. will be given to them.

Hayes' appointment as America's head coach was announced in November, two months after his father's death, and he said he had his blessing when they talked about whether he should take on the role. Months after seeing out a domestic season with Chelsea, he confirmed that without Sid, he wouldn't have been able to stay at the club anyway.

« She wasn't in the seat. I found it almost impossible. I still couldn't look towards the stand, » she told former US international Sam Mewis in a live event for the Women's Game podcast before the Olympics.

Amidst the celebrations there will be sadness. England forward Fran Kirby, who spent nine years under Hayes at Chelsea and lost his mother at the age of 14, demonstrated well the power of loss during more successful times.

« I really struggle when things are going well and not everyone understands, » she said in a statement Interview with The Times After the Lions' historic Euro win. « It's not because I'm sad, it's because she wants to be there and celebrate. »

In Paris, Hayes took her moment, turning to the crowd and kissing her dad's American Eagle necklace that hung around her neck.

Hayes knows how to celebrate — no matter the pain — hard. This is the manager who joked that after Chelsea won the Women's Super League title in 2023, « you'll find a bottle of gin on a park bench in north London » the next day. After winning the 2024 WSL title, he walked out of his final Chelsea press conference, beer in hand, saying, « See you at some point, maybe in the Olympic gold medal final. I've got to beat the Spaniards sometime. ».

He won't be beaten in Spain's gold medal, and after several Champions League defeats to Barcelona, ​​he will have to wait a little longer to get off the to-do list. However, losses to Japan, Germany and Brazil in the knockout stage, followed by wins over Zambia, Germany and Australia in the group stage, marked a remarkable turnaround.

This time last year, the USA were unexpectedly eliminated from the World Cup in the last 16, losing 5-4 on penalties to Sweden after a poor performance. It was the worst finish for the four-time champion.

So, with the air of invincibility well and truly gone, Hayes turned a chaotic and changing squad into a coherent one in a matter of months amid the investment and increased competitiveness of European women's football?

The invincible wind has not returned, and it will never return. The global game is growing too fast for one team to dominate more than the United States, but Hayes has nothing at the helm because he's the best coach in the world.

Speaking to NBC after the final, Hayes said recapturing their joy in playing was key to their success. « I come from a place where players want to enjoy themselves. »

It's that simple, and yet it's not. Despite seeing out his Chelsea contract, the new head coach undoubtedly got to work and unofficially made his mark very quickly. The retirements of Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz helped usher in a new chapter, and the exits of 35-year-old Alex Morgan, 39-year-old Becky Sorbrunn and 36-year-old Kelly O'Hara were the last. The year, the team's legends, showed that Hayes is not afraid to put emotions aside and act with the team's long-term future in mind – something he has done year after year at Chelsea.

A focus on personal development, team building and fun — something she pioneered at Chelsea — is delivered to the impressive array of talent at the U.S. Women's National Team's disposal. « Positive Discomfort »: One of them is the idea of ​​constantly being tested and challenged to help you grow as a player and as a person.

Meanwhile, Hayes continued to practice looking outside of football to deliver messages to his teams. This time, here's a video where ultramarathon runner Courtney Dwalter discusses what it takes to dig deep in 100-mile races and how she picks at the walls of her « pain cave. » She had seen the team bid twice in overtime to reach the finals, but if she could blindly run through parts of Dawalter's ultramarathon runs, the U.S. would endure the heat of France in August, the fatigue caused by small Olympic team sizes. And the mental blocks that appear when things don't go your way.

Given her pedigree, Hayes will always be given credit, but this gold bought her so much more. Now, as Brazil bids to restore their place at the 2027 World Cup, he can spend time on the technical and tactical aspects.