On September 28th, 2011, Dancing With The Stars competitor Hope Solo tweeted, “BIG thanks to all @maksimC and my fans 4 voting on our energetic and fun loving jive! Can’t wait to entertain u in just another 5 days!” The pretty brunette with the fabulous abs and fit physique featured in the 13th season of DWTS is the celebrity dance partner of Maks, the feisty Russian bad boy professional dancer whose fame grew when he danced in earlier seasons with pop music singer Brandy and sports journalist Erin Andrews. But who is @hopesolo behind that big, beautiful smile?
The sporty and loveable star celeb is paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy for this season’s Dancing With the Stars — and is giving him a run for his money in the health and fitness department. Actually, she is so trim she makes Maks look a little bit pudgy and has joked her biceps are bigger than his. Her toughest struggle so far seems to be carrying herself through her dance steps in a way that makes her look feminine. A self-professed tomboy, she’s got unisex appeal — but has not mastered looking ladylike (translation = girly) despite her incredible beauty.
Hope Solo is an Olympic gold medal goalkeeper who plays soccer for the magicJack of Women’s Professional Soccer in the U.S. The team is based in Boca Raton after relocating from Solo’s home state of Washington. Prior to signing with magicJack, she had a fallout with the 2007 World Cup team when she criticized coach Greg Ryan for benching her in favor of a veteran goalkeeper. The following game, against Brazil, the U.S. team lost 4-0, and Solo insisted that they would have won had she not been benched. She was dismissed from the team, and the coach left the same year.
Hope Solo remained close to her father after her parents’ divorce when she was six. Her father was a Vietnam War veteran, often homeless, and he was the one who taught her how to play soccer. He used to find ways to get to all of her games in Washington and he was looking forward to seeing her compete in his hometown in New Jersey for the 2007 Olympics, but he died just eight days before the game. So Hope and her mom took his ashes there and to Yankee Stadium as a final tribute, proving herself to be a real lady.
Hope Solo is a green celebrity who has a head start on humanitarian giving at just 26 years old. Already she has put together the Let’s Run Together Charity Relay, having invited 13 other participants, along with her two team co-captains, sponsored by Bank of America. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon will take place October 9, 2011. Each applicant will run a two-mile stretch of the marathon and Bank of America will award each runner $5,000 in his or her name toward the charity of the runner’s choice.