From training and competing to preparing bottles and changing diapers, some of the world’s Olympic athletes Paris Games they will be balancing their roles as athletes and parents.
There’s the British rower who raised more than $4,000 through GoFundMe to go to Paris “as a full-time mom.” American marathon runner who trained with the support of his daughters on the track. The New Zealand rowers who sang nursery rhymes to motivate each other after hard nights, waking up to tend to their babies.
This time, there will be some help from organizers for athletes in Paris to juggle the demands of elite sport with the tasks of parenthood.
The International Olympic Committee and Paris organizers have created what they call the Olympic Village’s first daycare center to allow athletes to be closer to their children and have quality time with them during the Games.
“The IOC and the IOC Athletes’ Commission want to ensure that pregnancy and motherhood do not mean the end of a career, particularly for female athletes,” the IOC said. “The daycare is part of an ongoing commitment by the IOC and IOC AC to ensure that athletes’ parents are cared for and supported at the Games.”
Organizers said the space aims to “bring together competing moms and dads with their children” and that it will provide “more free services and products to athletes than ever before in the Olympic and Paralympic Village” through one of the IOC’s diaper-selling partners. . .
The IOC, which intends to make the 2024 Olympics the first Games completely equal in terms of gendersaid it does not compile data on how many parents will compete in Paris, but said it “was seeing a lot of interest in childcare” ahead of the event.
The daycare is good news for parents of athletes, after restrictions at the Tokyo Olympics caused by the COVID-19 pandemic prevented family members from accompanying athletes. Canadian basketball player Kim Gaucher complained at the time that the IOC was making athletes choose between the Games and their children, and the The IOC ended up allowing breastfeeding mothers to take their children to Japan with them.
Previous Games have included iconic celebrations by parents with their children, including American Nia Ali with her son after winning the silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
American Allyson Felix, an 11-time Olympic medalist who often celebrated victories with her children, told CBS that the daycare represents a “change in culture” and a movement in the “right direction.”
“I think it really tells women that you can choose motherhood and also be at the top of your game and not miss a beat,” she said. Felix, who is part of the IOC athletes commission.
Among the Olympians who could end up using the nursery in Paris are New Zealand rowers Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors, who will be in the same boat in Paris, both literally — they are paired in the double sculls category — and because they both gave birth around two years ago. before the Games.
Before training, they often discussed how many times they had to wake up the night before to take care of their babies. And when they were very tired, they sang children’s songs on the boat – the ones “that stay in our heads”, said Francisco – to try to cheer themselves up.
American marathon runner Clayton Young had his daughters help him train, shouting powerful phrases every time he passed a grass section on his training course. When he won his spot at the Olympic Trials earlier this year, they were the first to hug and congratulate him at the finish line.
“Children require a lot of effort and physical exertion,” Young told the Associated Press. “Maybe I’m not sleeping, eating or resting as well as some other professional athletes, but from a mental standpoint, I’m much more grounded and much more present and I have a much greater internal perspective than most athletes.”
British rower Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne turned to GoFundMe to take her son and partner to competitions as she tried to qualify for the Games.
“The funding I receive is enough to help me pay rent, buy food and support child care,” she said. “However, with the current cost of living crisis, it would not be enough to fund Freddie and his father (or grandparents) with travel, accommodation and food at training camps and competitions.”
Dutch table tennis player Britt Eerland also turned to GoFundMe to raise money to get to the Paris Games after giving birth in March 2023.
“This campaign aims to show the world that motherhood and elite sports can coexist. By supporting me, we are championing the message that mothers can pursue their dreams and excel at the highest levels,” she said on her GoFundMe page. “With your help, not only will I realize my dream of going to Paris in 2024, but I will also inspire countless mothers around the world.”
Francis and Spoors will count on the help of parents and teammates to look after their children during the Games. Everyone will stay in a rented apartment until Francis and Spoors join their teammates at the team hotel and leave the children with their families.
“We are very lucky to have people that we feel comfortable enough with that the kids stay with them and we know they are safe and happy,” Spoors told the AP. “Basically, there was a lot of planning and there’s an element of a lot of logistics to it.”
Spoors said motherhood brought extra physical challenges and made them “super aware of injuries and things like that.”
“But obviously the other side of balancing just being a first-time mom and how to do that and learning what comes with all of that,” she said. “Basically, we have two goals this year: aim for a gold medal at the Olympics, but also be the best mother we can be.”
Francis said they were “very lucky to be mothers and also have our dream jobs in rowing.”
“You kind of realize what a privilege it is to be able to represent your country and bring your kids out,” she said.
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