Ashlyn Harris is speaking candidly about one of the most difficult chapters of her life.
The former U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeper is opening up about her highly publicized split from ex-wife Ali Krieger while promoting her new documentary, Gamechangers: The Ashlyn Harris Story. In a deeply personal conversation, Harris reflected on the emotional weight of ending a marriage, the difficult decisions she faced, and the personal growth she has experienced since.
“I don’t resent or regret anything about the life that I built with her; it just wasn’t for me,” Ashlyn, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly.
Harris and Krieger were widely regarded as one of soccer’s most beloved couples. The pair married in 2019 after years together and welcomed two children, daughter Sloane and son Ocean. Their separation became public in September 2023 when Harris filed for divorce after nearly four years of marriage.
Looking back, Harris says the decision did not come easily.
“You try and you try and you try and you keep trying to make it work and you don’t want to fail,” Ashlyn recalled. “You don’t want to give up. But also, life is really short and really long at the same time. I get one shot at this. There’s no second act. If I’m feeling this way in my 30s and I’m so unhappy that I don’t want to get out of bed, am I really serving her and my children and my friends and myself?”
The former athlete acknowledged the pain caused by the separation and the impact it had on those around her.
“I had to make a really hard decision. I know I hurt her in that process.”
Since the divorce, Harris says she has spent considerable time focusing on self-discovery and rebuilding her sense of identity outside of the life she previously knew.
That journey, she says, has led her to a place of happiness she never thought possible.
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” said Ashlyn, who began dating actress Sophia Bush in October 2023. “I love myself. I don’t remember the last time I woke up being like, ‘I love the person I’m looking at in the mirror.’ I [used to] have to remind myself every day, ‘You’re enough. It’s going to be OK. Just gotta put one foot in front of the other.’”
The athlete also shared what she believes is the biggest lesson she has learned through the experience.
“Life is too short to feel the burden and weight of a life you don’t want to be in and you don’t want to live. It f–king sucks, and you have to make the hard decisions sometimes, but on the other side of that bravery is a life maybe you’ve always imagined. I’m privileged enough now to live that.”
Her documentary explores those themes in depth, chronicling her childhood, family struggles, professional soccer career, motherhood, and current relationship with Bush.
Gamechangers: The Ashlyn Harris Story premieres June 8 on Roku, offering viewers an intimate look at the highs, lows, and transformative moments that have shaped one of women’s soccer’s most recognizable figures.
