The Paris 2024 Games have shown that motherhood can co-exist with elite sport. For the first time in history, breastfeeding rooms and a nursery have been incorporated into the Olympic Village. This development, pioneered by sprinter Allyson Felix, represents an important step towards greater inclusion and support for athletes who have decided to start a family.
With a career that includes 20 medals in World Championships and 11 Olympic medals, Felix has experienced first-hand the challenges of balancing a career as a high-performance athlete and becoming a mother. an interview with AFPThe American athlete revealed that the idea for a nursery came about while she was juggling caregiving duties and continuing to compete at the highest level after the birth of her daughter Camryn in 2018.
Felix also mentioned that by joining the Athletes Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)one of her main goals was to become the voice of athlete moms and reduce caregiving tasks, especially during the high-pressure periods experienced in competitions. And to achieve this, she collaborated with P&Gthe renowned consumer goods company and global Olympic partner, which became the sponsor of the lactation rooms and the nursery.
So, as athletes prepare to compete, nurseries and nursing rooms offer spaces to feed their babies, play with them and get away from the noise. These advances represent a significant victory in recognizing the needs of athletes who have become mothers. Emma TerhoChair of the Athletes’ Commission, welcomed this progress, highlighting the importance of athletes and their children being able to spend time together at such a crucial time in the mothers’ sporting lives.
The nursery, located in the Athletes’ Village Square, is available throughout the Games from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sports mothers competing in Paris
Some of the sports mothers competing at the Paris 2024 Games, from July 26 to August 11, who will benefit from the breastfeeding rooms and the nursery, are:
- French judoka Clarisse Agbebnenou
- Mexican weightlifter Janeth Gomez
- Australian rowers Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors
- British rower Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne
- New Zealand rower Emma Twigg
- Dutch tennis player Britt Eerland
- Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka
- Jamaican athlete Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
- French basketball player Valériane Vukosavljevic
- Australian water polo player Keesja Gofers
- In addition, Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez participated while 7 months pregnant.
Gone are the days when images like that of Spanish artistic swimmer Ona Carbonell, who celebrated her son’s first birthday via video call while competing in a championship, went viral. The effort led by Allyson Felix marks a significant change in sport, proving that it is possible to combine a sports career with motherhood. This development is not just a first step, but a milestone that paves the way to expand this initiative in future sporting events.
