When you’re tuning into coverage of the Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil this month, be sure to keep an eye out for some of the incredible, inspiring moms who are competing.
If you’ve been through pregnancy, you know that those 9 months change your body in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.
It’s not just the 20 or 30 or 50 pounds you put on while carrying and growing a child. The impacts go far beyond the weight gain. Your ligaments loosen as your body prepares to deliver your baby. Your hips widen. Your ankles swell. Your feet grow.
And your abs? Well, as Olympic swimmer Dana Vollmer, who welcomed her first baby last year, puts it: “There were none.”
Those are just the physical changes. The emotional and hormonal shifts that happen once your baby arrives are off-the-charts. Suddenly you have a whole new set of worries. You’re sleep-deprived, anxious, distracted.
Oh, and you have a child to take care of around-the-clock, too.
With all of this going on, it’s no surprise that many top female athletes choose to start families after their careers. Of the 298 women on the U.S. Olympic team this year, just 10 are mothers.
Take a look at some of the stories behind the moms from team USA and around the world who are aiming for the podium at the 2016 Olympic Games; women who somehow find the time, the strength and the determination to rise to the tops of their field, competing – and often winning – against the best in the world.
Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States, Beach Volleyball
“I feel like I was born to have babies and play volleyball," says U.S. Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings.
With three babies - she's mom to sons Joseph, 7, and Sundance, 6, and daughter Scout, 3 - and three gold medals to her name, she seems to have met her goals.
Kerri admits that it's tough balancing motherhood and her career on the court, but says, "I don’t think I’ll ever perfect [it], but I love the challenge of it.”
As for those goals of hers, the 37-year-old isn't satisfied on either front just yet, telling reporters, “I’d love to win a fourth gold medal. I’d love to have a fourth baby."
(Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock)
Jessica Ennis-Hill, Britain, Track and Field
UK track and field star Jessica Ennis-Hill admits that a lot changed after she welcomed her son Reggie in 2014: “Your ligaments loosen and your body is stretched. Not having any sleep is the hardest thing," she says. “I was like: ‘This is so hard! I’m so tired!’ Obviously you don’t want to leave the baby, everything’s new and you have all these emotions."
It didn't take long for the 30-year-old to find her stride, though - she admits that Reggie sleeping through the night helped! - and Jessica took home the gold at the World Championships in Beijing in 2015.
While competing is still a top priority, the Olympian makes no mistake about what comes first these days: “Athletics was my everything, whereas now it’s a huge part of my life, but Reggie is the most important thing," she says, adding, "I suppose it’s like any mum who goes back to work – you have to be organized."
(Mark Pain/REX/Shutterstock)
Brittney Reese, United States, Track and Field
Long jumper Brittney Reese is an American record holder, a five-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist. She's also a mom to her 8-year-old son Alex.
“I’ve known his momma since we were kids and he’s actually my godson, so I just felt like I wanted to raise him. I adopted him and he stayed with my mom for like two years, and then I took over this year to just raise him,” the 29-year-old explains. “It always felt like he was mine anyway since I had helped to raise him since he was born; he is attached to me."
Balancing being a mother with being an elite athlete isn't always easy, but Brittney says she makes it work.
“I home school [Alex]. I home school in the morning, go to practice and I’m also a part-time coach (Mesa Community College), so I’m on the go from 7 in the morning until 6 in the evening every day.”
( Jussi Nukari/REX/Shutterstock)
Oksana Chusovitina, Uzbekistan, Gymnastics
If 22-year-old Aly Raisman is referred to as the "grandma" of the U.S. gymnastics team, what does that make 41-year-old Uzbekistan gymnast Oksana Chusovitina?
The oldest gymnast to compete at an Olympic Games, Oksana acknowledges that her 17-year-old son Alisher is even older than some of her competitors! That doesn't seem to bother her, though: "I really love the sport, I love to give pleasure to the public. I love to come out and perform for the public and for the fans," she says.
Rio will mark Oksana's seventh Olympic Games, a milestone that shocks former U.S. Olympian Kerri Strug.
"She's had a child, and to keep getting into a leotard and stay in such phenomenal shape. To be able to bear all that pounding over the years, I don't know how she does it," Kerri recently gushed. "In gymnastics, it's usually one or two Olympics but seven? It's just crazy."
(Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
Dana Vollmer, United States, Swimming
U.S. swimmer Dana Vollmer has already added to her collection of medals at the Games in Rio, picking up a silver in the 4x100 meter freestyle and a bronze in the 100 meter butterfly.
This makes the 28-year-old just the second American woman, after swimmer Dara Torres, to reach the Olympic podium after giving birth.
Dana and her husband Andy Grant welcomed their son Arlen 17 months ago. She says that her return to the pool helped her to recover from a "miserable" pregnancy that included almost two months of bed rest.
Though Dana admits she had to start her training at "ground zero ," she says that getting back to swimming postpartum helped her to deal with "those emotions and feeling so out of control with what was going on in my body."
(REX/Shutterstock)
Nikkita Holder, Canada, Track and Field
A lot has happened in Nikkita Holder's life since she made her Olympic debut in London in 2012.
She married her fellow Canadian Olympian and childhood friend Justyn Warner, and they welcomed their first child, Kaedence, in 2013. Shortly after their son's birth, however, the couple divorced.
Then, in 2015, her father passed away suddenly.
Despite all of this, Nikkita's focus on the track remains strong: “Oh yeah, podium is my goal,” the 29-year-old says of Rio.
“Being a mom is hard as it is in general, and it is killer as an athlete,” says Nikkita, who wears a silver bracelet that her dad gave her shortly before his death when she races. “Definitely you need a lot of support and I have a great support system.”
Kaedence, now 2, will no doubt be in her thoughts in Rio. Posting a photo of her son to Instagram this month, she wrote, "I'm going to miss this guy, but I'm doing it ALL for him. #sacrifices #singlemomstrong #kaedenceandi #ourroad2rio #6moredaystogo #igotnothingtoloose"
(Photo: Team Canada)
Nino Salukvadze, Georgia, Shooting
Rio will be the eighth Olympic Games for 47-year-old Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze, who medaled at the 1988 Games in Seoul and the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Nino is already in the books as being only the second athlete, after canoeist Josefa Idem Guerri, to compete in eight Games. This year she's setting a new milestone: She'll be competing alongside her 18-year-old son Tsotne Machavariani, becoming the first mother and son to compete at the same Olympic Games.
“I am so proud and very happy to have my son here with me,” Nino, who was the flag bearer for Team Georgia at the opening ceremonies, recently told reporters. “He is just beginning now. I am more nervous for him, but when I am at the shooting range I am the coach and mentor. When I am at the village I am the mother, although he is with the other athletes, not with old people like me.”
(Aflo/REX/Shutterstock)
Inspiring is an understatement.
As mothers, we often put our own needs and our own desires on the back-burner, focusing our energies on our children and our families. How many times have you felt like you had no time to shave your legs, let alone to exercise? When was the last time you thought about a personal goal that didn’t revolve somewhat around your kids?
Bonnie Jean Morris, Adjunct Professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University, thinks that seeing these women continuing to strive for their dreams post-baby sets a great example.
“The more role models the better,” she says. “The more people [who] know that so-and-so had a baby and that didn’t keep her from winning gold, or going on to accomplish something big, the better for all women.”
Dana Vollmer, who has already added to her medal count at the Rio Games, agrees.
“I was told that you can never get your body back,” says. “I wanted to show that you can. I think it will keep women in sports much longer, that you can have family and you can make it work.”
The odds of me catapulting into elite athlete status are pretty low, but reading these women’s stories makes me realize that at the very least I should strive to make a commitment to my health, that maybe it’s time to revisit some aspirations that have been long neglected. It’s not easy to carve out that time, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Have you been watching the Olympics so far?
Ready to get started? “Fit mom” Kimberley Wellman (@staystrongmummy on Instagram) recently shared great tips and inspiration with us for getting and staying strong after kids. Follow her account and visit her web site to see more.
(Photo: Aflo/REX/Shutterstock)
