The U.S. girls’s water polo group has confronted its justifiable share of adversity in latest months — however they’re not letting their heartbreaking Olympics loss get them down.
After a nail-biting semifinal recreation on Thursday, Aug. 8, that noticed Australia come from behind then finally win in a dramatic shootout, Group USA misplaced out on the prospect to win a gold medal for the fourth Olympics in a row.
Nonetheless, captain Maggie Steffens and attacker Maddie Musselman are conserving their eyes on the prize amid private heartbreak off the sphere.
“[We’re] clearly bummed. [It’s] not the outcome we wished, however we gotta come again, mirror, develop and simply be higher in two days. We will rebound,” Steffens instructed reporters, together with PEOPLE, after the match. “We have been by means of rather a lot, particularly this squad. And I am excited to point out the resilience and simply attempt to be higher for subsequent recreation.”
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Steffens, 31, the one participant on the group to have been a member of all three gold medal-winning squads since 2012, actually has not had this Olympics go the best way she deliberate.
On July 28, simply days after the opening ceremony, a rep for the group confirmed to PEOPLE that Steffens’ 26-year-old sister-in-law died in Paris following a medical emergency whereas visiting to look at Steffens compete. The athlete has since been vocal about wanting to maintain her spirits up in honor of Lulu Conner, the youthful sister of her husband Bobby Conner.
“Sadly there’s been a number of adversity outdoors of water that we confronted, and I simply assume that we’ve been by means of rather a lot and executed an excellent job of being there for each other,” she mentioned on Thursday. “This group is superb. There’s a lot ardour, a lot love, a lot camaraderie, and I’m excited to struggle for them yet one more time.”
Musselman, 26, had an analogous sentiment talking with reporters after the loss to Australia, saying that whereas the top outcome was “heartbreaking,” she nonetheless had hopes that the group may “finish on a excessive” with a bronze medal.
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This Video games has been an emotional one for Musselman, too, who not too long ago shared that her husband, Patrick Woepse, has stage 4 lung most cancers.
“I have been by means of rather a lot outdoors of sport proper now, so it has been straightforward to have that perspective for myself,” she mentioned, referring to her constructive angle heading into Saturday’s match. “It may be laborious for another individuals on my group. However life is valuable for me proper now. And so for me, a loss proper now’s clearly laborious, however [I’m] transferring ahead.”
Musselman shared Woepse’s analysis in an interview with NBC Los Angeles in late July, saying that they’d made a marriage come collectively in simply 4 days after studying he solely had months to dwell.
Woepse, 30, made the trek to Paris to look at his spouse compete, and has been on the sidelines cheering her on.
