Joanna Lohman is no stranger to competition, pressure, or performing at the highest level. Now, the former U.S. Women’s National Team player and keynote speaker is taking those skills to a completely new arena as a contestant on Season 39 of CBS’s The Amazing Race.
Joanna will race alongside fellow professional soccer standout and World Cup Champion Ali Krieger as teams travel around the world, tackle demanding challenges, navigate uncertainty, and put their partnership to the ultimate test. Season 39 of The Amazing Race premieres Wednesday, September 30 on CBS.
From the Soccer Field to The Amazing Race
For Joanna, performing under pressure is nothing new.
She spent 16 years as a professional athlete and represented the United States Women’s National Team, earning nine USWNT caps and captaining the U-21 team to multiple international trophies. Her career also included 101 appearances at Penn State, Big Ten Player of the Year honors, and becoming the first player in Washington Spirit history to have her jersey retired.
Throughout her career, Joanna learned that success is not simply about talent. It requires preparation, adaptability, trust, communication, and the ability to make decisions when the pressure is on.
Those skills are about to be tested in an entirely different way on The Amazing Race.
Unlike professional soccer, where athletes can study film, prepare for opponents, and practice specific scenarios, the race requires competitors to respond to the unexpected in real time. Plans change. Challenges appear without warning. And success depends heavily on the person standing beside you.
It is an experience that aligns naturally with the leadership and performance lessons Joanna already brings to organizations around the country.
A New Keynote Inspired by the Race
Joanna is bringing lessons from this experience to the keynote stage with her signature program:
The Amazing (Human) Race: How Elite Performers Adapt, Subtract, and Connect to Win
Drawing from both professional soccer and The Amazing Race, Joanna explores what happens when preparation can only take you so far and the plan suddenly changes.
Her message centers around three critical skills for performing under pressure:
Adapt. High-performing teams need the ability to recognize when a plan is no longer working and quickly determine the next best move.
Subtract. When everything feels important, strong performers know how to eliminate distractions, identify what matters most, and act with clarity.
Connect. Sustainable high performance is rarely an individual effort. Trust, communication, and strong partnerships become even more important when the pressure increases.
Joanna’s new keynote uses her experiences to help audiences understand how to navigate uncertainty, narrow their focus under pressure, and build the relationships needed to deliver results when circumstances change.
These lessons translate directly into today’s workplace, where leaders and teams are constantly being asked to adapt to new challenges, make faster decisions, and accomplish more together.
Leadership Lessons Built Through Elite Competition
Joanna’s perspective is shaped by far more than her athletic accomplishments.
Today, she brings her experience into boardrooms, classrooms, and keynote stages, helping individuals and organizations push boundaries, strengthen teams, increase their impact, and perform at a high level under pressure. She also serves on the Yale School of Management’s Experience Leaders Initiative Advisory Board and is the author of Raising Tomorrow’s Champions.
Her presentations blend personal stories with practical lessons audiences can apply long after the event ends.
Whether she is talking about adaptability, workplace culture, teamwork, leadership, resilience, or authentic performance, Joanna challenges audiences to rethink what it takes to create meaningful results.
Now, The Amazing Race adds another extraordinary chapter to that story.
Watch Joanna Lohman on The Amazing Race
We are excited to cheer Joanna and Ali on as Season 39 of The Amazing Race begins this fall.
The season kicks off with a special two-night premiere beginning Wednesday, September 30, 2026, on CBS, with episodes also available on Paramount+.
For meeting planners, Joanna’s appearance on The Amazing Race offers an opportunity to bring a timely, recognizable story directly to your audience while exploring the deeper lessons behind elite performance.
Want to bring Joanna Lohman and the lessons of The Amazing (Human) Race to your next conference, leadership meeting, or corporate event?
Learn more about Joanna Lohman and her keynote programs or contact Midwest Speakers Bureau to check availability.