Olympic women's soccer top goal scorer: Mallory Swanson leads USWNT stars chasing Golden Boot

While all 12 teams in the Olympic women's soccer tournament are gunning for places atop the podium, players are battling in an individual race as well.

Top competitors are aiming to finish the Summer Games as top goal scorer. To win such an honor would give their team a strong chance to contend and would place the winner alongside an illustrious group of players in the tournament's glittering history.

Leading the charge entering the knockout stage is Marie-Antoinette Katoto of host nation France. The 25-year-old is showing how much she was missed at last summer's World Cup, which she missed due to a torn ACL. Now healthy once again, Katoto is on fire with goals in all three group games, including two braces.

Barbra Banda of Zambia is second on the list with four goals, but Zambia did not qualify for the knockout stage, giving Katoto the edge moving forward.

Behind Katoto and Banda are a host of players sporting two and three goals, including each of the three-headed monster along the United States attacking line. Mallory Swanson leads that unit with three so far, while Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman have bagged two each.

Also in contention is Lea Schuller of Germany, as the Bayern Munich forward scored twice in the group finale against Zambia. Spain superstar Alexia Putellas has scored twice, as has Steph Catley of Australia.

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Dutch star Vivianne Miedema set the record for the most goals ever scored in an Olympic women's soccer competition at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.

Miedema became the second-ever player to score four goals in a single Olympic match at that competition in a group game against Zambia. She also notched two goals in each of her other three games.

Despite the United States winning four gold medals, no USWNT player has ever finished an Olympic tournament as the leading goal scorer.

Conversely, winning the Golden Boot has not often translated into team success. Just once has a player finishes as the top goal scorer in women's soccer and also won the gold medal in the same year, as Melanie Behringer became the first with Germany in 2016.