KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Since 1996, The U.S. Women's Soccer team has won four Olympic gold medals, and is now playing for the chance to add another to the already impressive collection.
Marilyn Childress's love for soccer wasn't always that way her first love was Volleyball -- but that all changed with one invitation.
"A friend of mine asked me to go play soccer, and I just turned 30," said Marilyn Childress.
Then a quick revelation came upon her as she began to get more and more involved.
"I realized that women's soccer was the lowest of the totem pole of all soccer, even below kids," she said.
She went on to play soccer competitively as a goalkeeper, and eventually became the President of the Georgia Soccer Association.
Then came a decision that would change the sport forever, and a move that pushed Childress to get to work.
"In 1990, a representative from the Olympic Committee made a report that the IOC had elected not to have women's soccer to be a part of the '96 Olympics," she said.
That announcement lit a fire under her, a fire that she wouldn't let be put out until women had their seat at the table.
"I was so disappointed that it wasn't going to be there...I had to convince the Atlanta organizing committee that women's soccer would be a viable sport in the Olympics," she said.
It wasn't going to be easy, in fact it would be hard and consume lots of time and energy, but she knew she had to do it.
"I went all over the United States talking to youth soccer groups handing out petitions, and they started writing petitions to FIFA, writing petitions to the IOC," she said.
The first big step was a game in Decatur, Georgia. That match was the most attended game at that point in the history of women's soccer.
Following the hype around that match, the IOC reversed its decision. Women's soccer would be in the 1996 Olympic Games.
"Oh my gosh, I screamed and was just so excited because I knew what ramifications this was going to have overall for women and young girls. Now they could look up at these young girls and say, 'Hey I can do that,' cause they saw it on TV now," she said.
The decision paid off as tens of thousands filed in to watch the United States compete against China.
"76,489 people were at that match for the finals at the Olympics," Childress said -- describing the game as a true toss up. "It was going to be iffy whether the United States could even win that game or not," she said.
In a 2-to-1 nail-biter, the United States claimed the first women's soccer gold medal.
"Those players in their Olympic uniforms stood up on that platform and they got their gold medal. I mean, I couldn't stand it. I was just overwhelmed so much," said Childress, who had worked so hard for that moment.
She still to this day has a message to women fighting for a seat at the table.
"Every opportunity is there for them, and if they have to get it through sports -- it's there now where it didn't used to be," she said.