USWNT’s Mal Pugh And Atlanta Braves Shortstop Dansby Swanson To Marry

 

“Forever with you,” Mal Pugh wrote to Instagram, accompanying photos of the proposal, her stunned reaction and a close-up of the new ring.


“Mr. and Mrs. Swanson coming soon,” Swanson shared on his account.


The couple began dating in 2017, thanks to an introduction from Peterson. Pugh was on hand earlier this year when Swanson and the Braves defeated the Houston Astros to win the World Series.


“I’ve got my family here, my best friends are here, the love of my life Mallory is here,” Swanson said after the clincher in Game 6.


Pugh joined him on the field for the celebration.


A longtime rising star in the sport, Pugh was the nation’s top high school recruit and captained the U.S. U-20 national team, but by then she’d already established herself on the senior national team.


The forward from Littleton, Colorado, earned her first call up to the senior team in 2016 at 17, making her the youngest player to earn that honor in 11 years. She went on to be the youngest player named to the 2016 U.S. Olympic team at age 18, and there became the youngest U.S. player to score in the Olympics.


Three years later she made her FIFA Women’s World Cup debut, playing in three games and tallying a goal and an assist as the Americans defended their world title.


Pugh, still just 23, was not selected for the U.S. team that won a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, though she remains in the national team picture. More recently she helped the Chicago Red Stars reach the NWSL championship game.


Swanson, 27, is a Georgia native and debuted for the Braves in 2016. He had four hits — two of them home runs — in the World Series.

 

Chrös McDougall has covered the Olympic and Paralympic Movement for TeamUSA.org since 2009 on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc. He is based in Minneapolis-St. Paul.