Paris Olympics the ‘friendliest yet for competing moms’
The Summer Olympic Games begin in Paris at the end of this month. One welcome development has been a slew of positive stories about athletes who have celebrated their motherhood as part of their journey and also of the recognition that they are receiving in return. This has led to the Washington Post this week calling it the 'friendliest yet for competing moms'.
It might seem hard to believe, but this will be the first time ever that mothers who are athletes will have nurseries available to them to help them. It will also be the first time that rooms will be set aside during the games for mothers who are breastfeeding, with nappies and wipes provided to mothers also. The French organisers have also loosened rules on babies being with their mothers in the normally tightly controlled Olympic Village.
Much of this is the initiative of Allyson Felix, an 11 time medal winner who has spent the past few years spearheading a drive for mothers to be celebrated at the Olympics.
A number of athletes have been vocal in the lead up to these games about how positive motherhood has been on their athletic journey. Helen Glover of the Great Britain rowing team has said that it has given her an extra sense of perspective, saying 'I’ve got something much bigger and more important that I’m going home to'.
Barbari Zharfi, who is competing for the Olympic Refugee Team after leaving Iran, spoke similarly, “I want to prove one thing: even if you are a single mother and a refugee, you can achieve your goal and your biggest dream. For my daughter, I want to be a person to look up to.”
