Moments from her field hockey career flashed through her head. The big ones, like helping the U.S. qualify for the Olympics, were in the queue. But the ones that resonated most were, in Yeager’s words, “the smaller, more mundane things”: practices, conditioning sessions, youth tournaments on the weekends.
“[It] made me realize … the things that make it really worthwhile and make it so special are those hours that you put in doing kind of very simple things over and over and over again,” Yeager said.
Yeager, a 21-year-old attacking midfielder for the U.S., is the fifth Tiger field hockey player ever to be named an Olympian. She took the 2023-24 school year off to train full-time with the national team, and she improved tremendously from competing so often against older players and in high-pressure situations.
In January, Yeager helped Team USA to a second-place finish in an Olympic qualifying tournament, which she called the most difficult event of her career. Not only were the country’s Olympic dreams at stake, but teams had to play five games in seven days.
Team USA entered the tournament ranked No. 15 in the world, lower than two of the three other teams in its pool, yet swept its pool-play games to make the semifinals. In the last pool-play game, against No. 9 New Zealand, Yeager’s drag flick goal on a penalty corner was the game-winner.
The Americans then beat No. 11 Japan 2-1 in the semifinals, clinching an Olympic berth as one of the top three teams.
“It was really surreal. I think it was the first time in my life that I actually understood what that word meant,” Yeager said. “It really felt like a dream and like a dream come true.”
Though Team USA fell to Germany 2-0 in the championship, head coach David Passmore called its tournament performance “outstanding, beyond our wildest dreams.”
After the tournament, though, there were more tests. The U.S. played 16 games in the FIH Pro League this spring and won just once, but playing under pressure against the world’s best helped them prepare for the Olympics. And Yeager continued to improve offensively and defensively and be relied on as a drag flicker, all of which contributed to her selection to the Olympic team.
In June, Yeager finally got the news that she’d made the 15-player Olympic roster.
“Beth is a committed and disciplined athlete who has trained really hard and made great progress this year,” Passmore said via email. “She has positional versatility playing across all three lines in the past 14 months and is key to our set pieces.”
Every U.S. player is a first-time Olympian, but there is belief that the Americans can at least make the quarterfinals. They’ll start their Olympics against a familiar foe, world No. 2 Argentina, on July 27. The teams have played four official matches in the past year, plus test matches, and the Americans will look to counter Argentina’s flair with physicality and speed.
Team USA’s final pool-play game on Aug. 3 will be an Ivy League matchup, as Yeager and the Americans will face South Africa and Harvard alumna Hannah Pearce. At No. 18, South Africa is the only team in the pool ranked lower than the U.S.
Yeager will have plenty of family in attendance for her Olympic moment. Her uncle lives in Paris, about 15 minutes from Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, so he’ll lead the Yeager contingent.
She is also eager to experience the multi-sport spectacle of the Olympics, something that’s unlike any other field hockey tournament.
“Being able to see other elite athletes and see what they do and how they compete, I think also it's so special because we get to compete as a country as well,” Yeager said. “I'm looking forward to the Team USA atmosphere and being part of something bigger than just field hockey.”