Sara Eve Hess (née Whalen; born April 28, 1976) is a retired American professional Olympic medalist soccer player.

[2] Born in Natick, Massachusetts, to John and Linda Whalen, Sara was raised in Greenlawn, New York, with her sister Deborah, and is Jewish.

[3][1][4][5][6] She attended Harborfields High School in her hometown, where she played varsity soccer, basketball, and track as a sprinter.

[10] Whalen was the 1995 and 1996 Big East Defensive Player of the Year, before playing striker her senior season where she recorded 21 goals and 22 assists to lead her team in scoring.

In 1997, Whalen began her career for the United States women's national soccer team as an outside defender.

Because of her versatility, she could either increase the attacking pressure or function as a defensive midfielder as the game situation demands.

This group is famously dubbed the "99er's"; each player helped change the face of women's sports forever.

Although she did not take a penalty kick, Whalen was the first to run up to Brandi Chastain after she secured the victory for the United States.

The following year, Whalen won a silver medal as a part of the US Women's Team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

In 2001, Whalen was a founding player of the Women's United Soccer Association, playing alongside US teammates Christie Pearce and Tiffeny Milbrett for the New York Power.

[16] On June 26, 2002, in a game against the Carolina Courage, Whalen tore her ACL and MCL in a collision with German international Birgit Prinz.

Whalen lives in New York with her husband, Jon Hess, a NASDAQ trader and former Princeton University lacrosse player, and their three children.

Whalen was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island in the Soccer Category with the Class of 2001.