In the weeks and months leading up to the 2016 Rio Olympics, I knew these Games were going to be special. For starters, I had been glued to the U.S. Olympic Trials and saw what a fight it was just to make the team. There were 191 returning Olympians, but also a field of fresh faces that could make a huge impact.
But maybe most significant to me was the fact that out of the 555 athletes on Team USA’s Rio Olympic team, a history-making 292 of them were women. That’s the largest number of women to ever compete for any nation in the history of the Games. It’s only the second time our U.S. ladies have outnumbered our men.
That alone was a feat that I found myself telling people about over and over again. And then the Games got started—and that fun fact quickly hit the back burner. Because every day—and often, multiple times a day—there was news of a yet another history-making performance by one of our outstanding female athletes.
Here are 20 of the most inspiring performances by the badass women of Team USA.