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The United States women’s national team has triggered a legal option in its fight for equal pay.

U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association spokeswoman Molly Levinson confirmed Friday via Twitter the USWNT has appealed the dismissal of 28 players’ equal-pay lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation.

U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner dismissed the key part of their suit May 1, prompting players to vow immediately to continue their fight for damages and improved compensation from their national-team employer.

Equal pay means paying women players the same rate for winning a game as men get paid. The argument that women are paid enough if they make close to the same amount as men while winning more than twice as often is not equal pay.

— mollylevinson (@mollylevinson) May 9, 2020

The argument that maternity leave is some sort of substitute for paying women players the same rate for winning as men is not valid, nor fair, nor equal.

— mollylevinson (@mollylevinson) May 9, 2020

The argument that women gave up a right to equal pay by accepting the best collective bargaining agreement possible…in response to the Federation’s refusal to put equal pay on the table is not a legitimate reason for continuing to discriminate against them.

— mollylevinson (@mollylevinson) May 9, 2020

Today, we are filing a motion to allow us to appeal immediately the district court’s decision so that the Ninth Circuit will be able to review these claims.

— mollylevinson (@mollylevinson) May 9, 2020

Although Klausner allowed the players’ case for unfair treatment in travel, housing and medical support to go to trial, which is set for June 16 in Los Angeles, he rejected their claim U.S. Soccer underpaid them compared to the U.S. men’s national team due to gender discrimination.

The USWNT players are seeking $66 million in damages under the Equal Pay Act and the players most responsible for back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup titles have shows they won’t retreat in the face of a major legal roadblock.

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Megan Rapinoe and her teammates insist they’re not down for the count.

The United States women’s soccer team superstar vowed Friday night via Twitter she and her teammates will continue their fight equal pay. Rapinoe issued the message in response to United States District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner’s decision to dismiss their equal-pay lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Rapinoe, and the 27 other players involved in the lawsuit said they’ll appeal Klausner’s decision.

We will never stop fighting for EQUALITY.

— Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) May 2, 2020

USWNT stars Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn reacted similarly to Klausner’s ruling.

Although disappointing to hear this news, this will not discourage us in our fight for equality. https://t.co/s1VWfF2IG0

— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) May 2, 2020

If you know this team at all you know we have a lot of fight left in us. We knew this wasn’t going to be easy, change never is. https://t.co/BfXqAAtCZ5

— Becky Sauerbrunn (@beckysauerbrunn) May 1, 2020

Rapinoe, Morgan, Sauerbrunn and Co. were seeking $66 million in damages under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as they contend U.S. Soccer systematically underpaid them for years compared to the U.S. men’s team. Although Klausner dismissed the equal-pay claim, he did allow their claim of inferior treatment regarding travel, lodging, medical care and other areas to go forward.

A trial on these matters is scheduled to begin June 16 in Los Angeles.

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Hope Solo hasn’t had too much down time recently.

The United States women’s national soccer team legend announced Thursday evening she and her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens, are parents of twin babies.

Solo gave birth to a boy, Vittorio Genghis Stevens, and girl, Lozen Orianna Judith Stevens, on March 4. She confirmed Friday on social media she and Stevens have been busy during the coronavirus pandemic.

“… What have we been doing during quarantine? Well as you can see, we’ve been incredibly busy,” Solo said. “Please meet Vittorio and Lozen Stevens, both born in the middle of a pandemic on March 4.

“It has been incredibly stressful times for us. We’ve been out in public more than we wanted to be, but we would like to thank all the incredible nurses and the doctors who helped take care of our babies during our time in NICU.”

Solo previously miscarried twins in 2018. She revealed in an interview with Elle she suffered serious complications, which nearly killed her, according to The New York Post’s Jessica Bennett.

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We now know when the 2020 Olympics will be held.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the IOC had no choice but to postpone the Games, which were scheduled to be held this summer in Tokyo.

The rescheduled dates were announced Monday morning. The Games will be held July 23 to Aug. 8 of 2021, while paralympic games will be held Aug. 24 through Sept. 5, 2021 as a result of the change.

Here is the most notable part of the release making the announcement.

This decision was taken based on three main considerations and in line with the principles established by the IOC Executive Board (EB) on 17 March 2020 and confirmed at its meeting today. These were supported by all the International Summer Olympic Sports Federations (IFs) and all the National Olympic Committees (NOCs):

1. To protect the health of the athletes and everyone involved, and to support the containment of the COVID-19 virus.

2. To safeguard the interests of the athletes and of Olympic sport.

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics postponed at least one year amid coronavirus concerns, challenges have arisen for the athletes nearing the end of their athletic careers.

For Carli Lloyd, she anticipated this summer would make her the oldest United States soccer player in history as she played in her third Olympic Games.

She still could, even though she was considering retiring after the tournament. And as long as she makes the team next year, that’s the captain’s plan.

?I was going to take it to this summer?s Olympics and then see where I was mentally and physically,? Lloyd said, via the Los Angeles Times. ?I wasn?t sure when I would officially retire. So now I have the opportunity to stick around for another year and it would be a dream come true to win gold with my teammates.

?That would be satisfying enough for me to officially retire.?

Lloyd turns 38 in July and was already unsatisfied with her decreased role in the USWNT’s fourth Women’s World Cup run.

New coach Vlato Andonovski started the forward in an Olympic qualifying match in January, and in two of three SheBelieves cup games. But it’s important to note that that was in the absence of Alex Morgan, who missed that stretch due to her pregnancy.