Changing the narrative about athlete mothers’ comeback stories

Being an athlete whereas additionally being a mom typically comes with challenges. On prime of their skilled and parental duties, athlete moms typically cope with inequalities and media protection that reinforces stereotypes.

Being pregnant and motherhood are the reason why some sportswomen finish their careers. Many athletes grapple with sports activities organizations which can be unprepared to help them as moms, alongside cultural pressures to deal with simply motherhood. But, many athletes have pursued each motherhood and their athletic ambitions and gained skilled success and media consideration.

Acceptance of motherhood and sports activities careers is shifting. The 2024 Paris Olympics supported athlete moms by offering areas for little one care, and moms within the Skilled Ladies’s Hockey League are gaining media consideration.

Media protection of athlete moms has been more and more showcasing how they will have profitable sporting careers. It additionally helps to show inequalities as they push for help for his or her careers. These embrace restricted details about coaching throughout being pregnant and postpartum, lack of help for household planning, insufficient maternity and child-care insurance policies and inadequate help for id and profession modifications.

As a part of our lately printed analysis, we analyzed information and sports activities media protection of 2020 and 2024 Olympic athlete moms to disclose a number of themes. We additionally explored media stories about athlete moms’ sports activities comebacks.

Athlete moms

Our analysis reveals that sports activities media portrays the concept of being each an athlete and a mom as attainable, however with challenges. Athlete moms should typically cope with social expectations that girls ought to do every thing for his or her kids, together with sacrificing profession ambitions.

Our analysis on media tales of boxer Mandy Bujold’s and basketball participant Kim Gaucher’s 2020 Olympic journeys highlights how motherhood is usually a penalty in sport.

Bujold was returning to prime kind after giving delivery, however the pandemic pressured the Worldwide Boxing Federation to cancel all upcoming Olympic qualification occasions. They subsequently reverted to pre-pandemic rankings, which excluded Bujold, as she was on maternity depart.

Gaucher was instructed there can be no kids allowed on the Video games. She was pressured to decide on between competing on the Olympics or staying house to breastfeed her daughter. After telling their tales within the media and hiring a lawyer, Bujold retained her rating and Gaucher was in a position to carry her daughter to the Olympics to breastfeed her.

These two examples spotlight the inequitable remedy and stress athlete moms need to face. Additionally they present that motherhood and sport are suitable. When the media elevates sportswomen’s struggle for maternity rights, change is feasible and celebrated.

Tremendous mothers

Our analysis on Olympic athlete moms’ sporting comebacks reveals media tales that includes “tremendous mums” as the celebrities. Tremendous mums are portrayed as selfless suppliers of child-care who excel in motherhood and their athletic careers. The tremendous mum character in media tales celebrates these sportswomen’s accomplishments.

Nevertheless, the tremendous mum narrative may ignore the difficulties of balancing motherhood and sport with out help. There’s a lack of postpartum coaching tips amongst nationwide and worldwide sporting our bodies, and lack of funding to help athlete moms.

The expectation that they’ve to have the ability to “do all of it” could make any mom really feel insufficient.

Canadian freestyle skier Cassie Sharpe lately spoke concerning the stress this narrative locations on athlete moms: “After I bought pregnant, I form of was identical to ‘that is all, I am achieved.’ On the time in my thoughts, there was simply no approach that [a return to competition] was going to work. I used to be like, ‘I am unable to try this. I am not a superhero.'”

Kenyan Olympic observe athlete Religion Kipyegon revealed well being points and fears she had when coming again to sport. Kipyegon managed to coach till she was about 5 months pregnant, however the supply was traumatic. She wanted an emergency C-section to ship her daughter. “I used to be so afraid, [thinking], ‘Possibly I cannot come again, I’ll simply disappear,'” she mentioned.

These examples showcase the realities elite athlete moms proceed to face. Sports activities journalist Shireen Ahmed has written about how it’s unreasonable to anticipate athlete moms to be superwomen: “Sure, that’s unrealistic, however generally that’s what we’re confronted with. It does not all the time manifest gracefully, however there it’s.”

Ahmed’s reporting of athlete moms’ tales is groundbreaking, as she celebrates their athleticism whereas exposing a number of the challenges they face.

A motherhood penalty

Whereas elite ladies athletes are applauded for his or her expertise and success, they will additionally face a motherhood penalty within the type of lowered profession expectations and help.

Regardless of having expertise or earlier success, media tales typically signify these athletes as exceptions who come again to their careers in opposition to all odds. This will mirror veteran athletes navigating an underestimated, however profitable, postpartum comeback with much less sources.

When older athlete moms do succeed, there’s generally a shock and shock narrative in media protection. This narrative might reinforce stereotypes that motherhood ends health and aggressive sporting targets.

Veteran Canadian Olympian Malindi Elmore’s marathon operating efficiency certified her for the 2020 Olympics, regardless of her age and her retirement from 1500 m operating 17 years earlier.

Final September, Elmore set a private greatest within the marathon to qualify for Paris 2024 at 43, exhibiting that continued profession success as a mom is feasible.

Altering the best way these comeback tales are mentioned can scale back stress for veteran athlete moms coming again to sport.

What subsequent?

The themes from our analysis reveals that media tales of motherhood and sport are shifting to rejoice ladies’s sport careers.

Media tales that mirror the realities of athlete motherhood and extra various athlete moms are wanted. There must also be extra protection of racialized and LGBTQ+ moms and athlete moms with disabilities.

Such protection would reveal their shared and distinctive challenges and triumphs, and would supply a extra fulsome portrayal of athlete motherhood.

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