Women's World Cup Ticker Tape Parade The First in Decades to Honor Women

The last woman honored in the canon of heroes came in 1960

The U.S. Women's Soccer Team made history with its third World Cup win, and again when they were honored with a ticker tape parade in New York on Friday.

This was the first group of women to be honored in a parade in more than three decades.

While ticker tape parades are common place (the most recent was celebrating the 2012 Giant's win in the Superbowl) women have not been honored in a parade since 1984. Men and women were feted after their summer Olympic win in Los Angeles.

It's been even longer since a sole woman was honored with her own parade: Figure skater and gold Olympic medalist Carol Heiss Jenkins, 55 years ago.

And the U.S. women's team are blazing the trail for women's parade involvement even further: they were the first all-women's team to ever receive the ticker-tape treatment.

It was a quick turnaround for the parade; the record-breaking win against Japan came Sunday night, and an official announcement of the parade went out Tuesday.

On Monday, Manhattan borough president Gale Brewer wrote an open letter to New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, calling on him to commemorate the win.

"New York City has a strong history of honoring sports achievements in the Canyon of Heroes, but has never held a parade to honor a women's team," she wrote. "Our newest soccer champions represent an opportunity for New York to recognize that heroes and role models come in all genders."

The next day it was official.

Each person or team to walk the "Canyon of Heroes" earns a metal plaque to be placed along the parade route. Dignitaries, astronauts, and war hero names fill the expanse. The U.S. women will soon have their own plaque to join the others.

The parades have become less frequent as the costs and trash produced by them continue to rise. It's estimated the parade honoring the women's soccer team will cost $2 million. The Giant's parade had workers cleaning up 34 tons of trash, according to the New York Department of Sanitation. 

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