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Motivation

Olympian & World Cup Champ Carli Lyod On Motherhood, Movement & Workout Gear

Author: Alexandra Engler

April 06, 2026

Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Director

By Alexandra Engler

Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Director

Alexandra Engler is the senior beauty and lifestyle director at mindbodygreen and host of the beauty podcast Clean Beauty School. Previously, she's held beauty roles at Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, SELF, and Cosmopolitan; her byline has appeared in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Allure.com

Image by mbg Creative / courtesy of source

April 06, 2026

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We love celebrating women at the top of their game. In our Game On series, we're interviewing top athletes about their well-being routines—covering everything from nutrition that makes them feel strong to the moments that bring them joy. P.S.: Read more in our digital issue of Game On.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, Carli Lloyd helped define an era of U.S. women’s soccer. Her dominance on the world stage—and headline-making moments like her 2015 World Cup performance—didn’t just elevate the team, they helped push women’s sports into the mainstream in a new way, driving visibility, investment, and cultural relevance that continues to build today.

As excitement escalates for the 2026 World Cup, set to take place across the Americas, Lloyd is preparing for her role as a lead studio analyst for Fox Sports—stepping into the high-pressure, fast-paced rhythm of wall-to-wall tournament coverage, where preparation, precision, and insight matter as much as ever.

In this conversation, she shares how she’s preparing for it all, the wellness habits that keep her grounded, how motherhood has reshaped her priorities, and what she’s wearing while doing it all.

mbg: All of us in the States and the Americas are getting so excited for World Cup! You’ll be a studio lead for Fox Sports. How are you gearing up for the marathon of coverage?

Carli Lyod: It’s starting to feel really real. We’re about 60-something days out now, so the prep is really going to start to ramp up for me. Now that the playoff games are wrapped, it’s all about getting familiar with the teams, players, and the way they play—how they attack, defend, and all those little nuances.

It’s going to be really exciting, and I’m just grateful to have a role as a female working in the Men’s World Cup. I give a lot of credit to Fox Sports for spearheading that and being really committed to it. They came in with their first-ever World Cup coverage during our 2015 World Cup, and the coverage they gave—the awareness, the features, all of that—played a huge role with getting us all the support we did. With us winning, I don’t know that it would’ve been as big as it was without their coverage.

So yeah, I’m just really excited to be part of it.

mbg: Learning about the teams and their playing styles, I'm sure that's not totally different from when you were on the field. It’s probably really interesting to be on the other side of it though.

Lyod: Oh, yeah definitely.

mbg: I know you are partnering with Tek Gear by Kohl’s, I want hear about your must have pieces and why you like them.

Lyod: Growing up,I was always tagging along with her and going to Kohl’s. It’s a one-stop shop, so you can get pretty much anything and everything you need.

Now for me, being a mom and having a family, I appreciate the affordability and that the pieces really fit with my style. I don’t need to get up, do my hair and makeup, and get dressed for a nine-to-five job, so being able to have that athleisure and comfortable pieces is key.

The Tek Gear has been awesome. I love the Tek Gear Ultrastretch High-Waisted Leggings and the Essential Core Raglan Tee. Plus, they’ve got a Seamless Low-Impact Sports Bra and Woven Run Shorts, so I can layer.

Whether I’m going to the grocery store, the park with our daughter, or taking her for a walk, I can wear those pieces for anything and everything. And then I like to style it with some lifestyle shoes—my Nike Dunks or Jordans—to make it fun.

mbg: I love talking to athletes about how they mentally prepare. You're no longer playing, but I am curious about what you did to get yourself in the zone, whether that was back during your playing days—or even now when you're mentally preparing to go on television.

Lyod: It’s actually similar—the preparation—I don’t know anything different, aside from giving it the best that I can. You don’t continue to make it on TV, especially as a studio analyst in sports, if you don’t prepare. You need to brush up on anything and everything that’s happening in and around the game.

So for me, that’s something that’s carried over from my playing career and now merged into this career I’m having on TV.

Mentally, I sti