Gotham FC placed defender Kelley O’Hara on the season-ending injury list due to chronic knee degeneration, the team announced Saturday, precipitating the end of her final season. She will “continue to be in the environment for the remainder of the season in a leadership role,” the team said.
O’Hara, an Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women’s national team, announced her plans in May to retire from soccer at the end of the 2024 NWSL season after struggling with ankle and knee injuries.
“To get injured and come back, and get injured and come back, and just keep doing it, it really takes a toll on you,” O’Hara told Just Women’s Sports in May.
O’Hara, a linchpin for the USWNT for more than a decade, played in four World Cups, winning two in 2015 and 2019. She is also a WPS champion and two-time NWSL champion, winning titles with the Washington Spirit in 2021 and Gotham in 2023.
O’Hara has been with the NWSL since the start, beginning her career in the league with Sky Blue FC, before a stint with the first version of Utah Royals FC and then heading to the Spirit. She signed with Gotham in January 2023.
Gotham said it will celebrate O’Hara’s career on Oct. 20, when the team hosts the Orlando Pride at Red Bull Arena in its final regular-season home match.
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