"They no longer have to choose..."

The Washington Post recently had this article showcasing the women athletes at the Olympics this year - https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/interactive/2021/olympics-mothers/. For me, it was an incredible reminder of the ways in which our world has grown to include athletes who are mothers – and the ways it hasn’t.

In the first Olympics where women were allowed to compete, Paris in 1900, moms competed – Mary Abbott coming in seventh place in golf and her daughter, Margaret Abbott, took gold.

Five decades later, Wilma Rudolph became a record-holding Olympic champion in track and field. She was the first American woman to win three gold Olympic medals in one year, and became an international star. As a child, she had contracted polio, which paralyzed her left leg. In between the 1956 and 1960 Olympics, Rudolph had a baby – Yolanda – but she had to keep her distance from her baby if she wanted to continue competing. Rudolph’s daughter was raised by her grandmother for her first eleven years, as her mother continued to compete and win medals.

This year, marathoner Aliphine Tuliamuk will compete in Tokyo with her seven-month old daughter, Zoe, by her side.* Beach volleyball star Kerri Welsh Jennings competed in five Olympics, winning three gold medals, a mother of three. Allyson Felix is competing in the 400m sprint, after getting her fastest time in five years, despite having a baby in between there. Hurdler Tiffany Porter had a baby a year before the originally scheduled Olympics, and won the 100-meter hurdles to qualify in 2021. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce goes into competition with the chance to be the oldest woman to win an individual gold in an Olympic sprint, and – as a mother who had a C-section just four years ago. There’s more, and each of the stories highlights the complexity, intensity, and incredible grit that led each athlete to decide to become a mother, and continue competing.

And yet, it is jarring to me that in 2021, we still need to have these conversations. Allyson Felix penned a moving op-ed just two years ago, in the midst of negotiating her contract with Nike. At the time Felix was a heavily decorated athlete – a six-time Olympic gold medal winner and an eleven-time world champion. After an emergency C-section in 2018, Nike offered her 70% less pay and refused to guarantee that she wouldn’t be punished in the months after childbirth if she wasn’t at her best. The negotiations stalled, and Felix ultimately was the first athlete to sign with Athleta. She went on to compete in her eight World Championships and took home two more gold medals, resulting in more gold medals than any other athlete at the World Championships – surpassing even Usain Bolt.

Mothers, especially athlete mothers it turns out – should never be underestimated. This week, I’m rooting for each of them as the Olympics get underway in Tokyo. I highly encourage taking a look at the longform article!

*Actually, originally nursing mothers were not permitted to bring their babies to Tokyo, and Tuliamuk considered dropping out. But the Committee reversed course in June, after (much-deserved) criticism.

-Reshma