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Editorial: Reaching her goal with grit

 
Published July 6, 2015

There is one kind of heart, the genetically determined potential of the organ beating in a baby's chest at birth. And there's another kind, born of grit.

Carli Lloyd, the new U.S. women's soccer superstar, wasn't blessed with much of the first, but she has the second in abundance. By the metrics used to determine a player's innate ability for endurance, Lloyd had little hope. "The thing about Carli is she doesn't have much of a natural motor," said the club soccer coach who trained her ahead of the World Cup.

So she made up for it by just outworking everyone. Gut-busting, leg-burning hours of workouts. Penalty kick practice. Practicing on her own after practice ended.

She took what she was born with and made the most of it. And it paid off. Time after time, she found a way to be at the right place at the right time on the World Cup soccer field. She had the winning goal against China, then Germany. And finally Sunday night, she scored a sensational hat trick — the first time a woman ever scored three goals in a World Cup final — as the United States defeated Japan. She was like the little aerobic engine that could.

Title IX has opened up a world of opportunity for young women, and Lloyd's shining example shows how the improbable can become the possible. Her remarkable run started with the right kind of heart.