The supermoms of track and field: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shaune Miller-Uibo, Faith Kipyegon, Nia Ali, Ana Peleteiro and more
These track stars are breaking down barriers as they win world and Olympic medals after pregnancy. Far from a setback, childbirth has proven a boost in their running careers and now they want to send a message: "Pregnancy isn’t the end of our careers...We will be back!"
Athletics
Being both a mother and an athlete is not easy. But as some elite athletes in track and field have proved, pregnancy does not have to be a setback.
Motherhood has brought a new perspective, made them better athletes, and also helped them reaffirm their sport identity.
Olympics.com looked at the journeys of the athletes who stayed in the sport post-partum and continue to dominate their events with incredible performances.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce,100m
When Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce found out she was pregnant, “she sat on her bed and cried”. She had just returned from winning two medals at the Rio 2016 Olympics, and ruled out a return for the 2017 World Athletics Championships.
The sprinter had a difficult pregnancy and gave birth to son, Zion, a day after the women’s 100m final at the 2017 Worlds in London.
Her recovery from the caesarean delivery took longer than expected. But then at the 2019 World Championships, aged 32, Fraser-Pryce made history by becoming the first mother and the oldest woman to win the 100m sprint, a result that she described as “a victory for motherhood”.
“Being a mom and an athlete is a balancing act, but I enjoy it,” Fraser-Pryce, whose nickname 'Pocket Rocket' has now morphed into 'Mommy Rocket', posted on her Instagram.
“A lot of elements translate from the sport when you have a child, the focus to nurture and be there for him when needed, the drive to balance everything.”
The Jamaican, whose son continues to motivate her to greatness, could win a record sixth 100m world title and add the 4x100m relay gold at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Faith Kipyegon,1500m and 5000m
By the time she turned 22, Faith Kipyegon had tasted world and Olympic glory, but she still craved more.
The Kenyan star wanted the world record, especially in the 1500m, an event she had ruled since Rio 2016 where she won her first Olympic gold.
After making history at the London 2017 World Athletics Championships as the first Kenyan woman to win the 1500m, Kipyegon took a maternity break. The double Olympic champion managed to train until she was about five months along, but the delivery was traumatic.
Kipyegon needed an emergency Caesarean section to deliver her daughter Alyn in June 2018. There were moments the athlete worried if she could ever compete again.
“I was so afraid, [thinking], ‘Maybe I will not come back, I will just disappear',” she said.
But Kipyegon did return to competition, exactly one year later, and was the surprise winner of the Prefontaine Classic just two months before taking silver at the 2019 Worlds.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics she retained her champion status and a year later captured the world title in Eugene.
The three-time world medallist has gone unbeaten since then, and this year she found another breakthrough – rewriting not one but three world records. Kipyegon is now the fastest woman ever in the 1500m, 5000m and mile events.
“[I proved that] you can take a maternity break and come back even stronger. Before I gave birth to Alyn, I never ran a world record, but now I am here with Alyn and the world record. I want to be an inspiration to many,” she said in a recent interview with Olympics.com, explaining how motherhood has helped her develop mental resilience in her races.
Kipyegon is now well on the way to becoming the most decorated 1500m female star, as she eyes an unprecedented third world title at Budapest 2023, and a third straight Olympic gold next year in Paris.
Ana Peleteiro, triple jump
Spain's triple jumper Ana Peleteiro. is another proud track and field mama. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist took the biggest leap of her life, becoming a mother, in December 2022.
She topped a national competition six months after the birth of her first child, daughter Lua, before qualifying for the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships in Chorzów, Poland in late June, where she finished seventh.
The following month, Peleteiro won the 2023 national championships in 14.21m, missing the Spanish qualification mark for the 2023 Worlds by a mere four centimetres.
At the end of her first post-partum season, she celebrated her return to form.
“I'm back, we're back! If you told me what we achieved this season 7 months ago, I would never believe it. I have struggled, suffered and worked like never before. Why lie, it has been a long-distance race, very hard, the hardest of my life,” Peleteiro posted on social media.
“I have returned to high competition, I have recovered my physical shape, I have once again enjoyed competitions, improving a little in each one of them.”
Shaune Miller-Uibo, 400m
If you thought six months is a short time for recovery post-birth, Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo lined up at the 2023 World Athletics Championships on 20 August exactly four months after having son Maicel.
And she was delighted to have raced her first 400m since August 2022 in a season best of 52.65.
"I’m having so much fun to be back on the track. It felt so good. It's been so exciting. I have missed it so much," Miller-Uibo said in a chat with Olympics.com shortly after her race in Budapest.
"Childbirth is pretty hard on the body. We took things extremely slow and at the very last minute everything just started to feel really well. To come here and run 52 seconds exactly four months after [giving birth] is pretty impressive."
Miller-Uibo's first event, 10 weeks after giving birth, was at the national championships in Nassau, where she competed in five events in the heptathlon.
And just as for the other mothers who have gone before her on the track, having a child may turn out to be the driving force that the 29-year-old needs to defend her 400m crown in Paris next year.
"My body feels a litte bit different, but I feel stronger as well. I am still breastfeeding...I plan to do so until two years," she said. "The most important thing is to explain to the ladies, pregnancy isn’t the end of our careers. It’s going to take time, but the main message to send is, ‘we will be back!’"
Nia Ali, 100m hurdles
USA's Nia Ali continues to defy career expectations as a hurdler and heptathlete.
Ali and her partner, Andre De Grasse, decided to have their third child, Kenzo, in 2020 following the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
That meant the 34-year-old missed what could have been her second Games, where her Canadian husband excelled with his career's first individual gold. But a year later Ali was back on the track herself and qualified for the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
It was in 2015 that the sprinter became a mother to the couple's eldest child, son Titus, and the new role has clearly added a spring to her strides.
Ten months post-partum, Ali surprised with a 60m hurdles gold at the 2016 World Indoor Championships and six months later she qualified for Rio 2016 where she grabbed the 100m hurdles silver.
Motherhood proved another boost for Ali when daughter Yuri was born in 2018. The resounding success of her comeback in 2019 led her to the world title in Doha.
In 2023, Ali claimed national titles as a mother of three.
“I want people to understand you can balance track and motherhood," said Ali, who has her sights set on Paris 2024. “Having a baby doesn’t have to hold you back from achieving your goals.”
Nia Ali celebrates with her son Titus after winning the silver medal in the Women's 100m Hurdles final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Sally Chepyego, Marathon
Kenya's Sally Chepyego is one of the most consistent long-distance runners, boasting a career spanning nearly 18 years on track and road.
She announced herself to the world at the 2001 World U18 Championships, winning the 3000m gold while running barefoot.
In 2008, Chepyego had her first child, Brian. Three years later she was back in running shape, completing a half-marathon in under 70 minutes.
She returned to the Kenyan team at the 2013 Worlds in Moscow, where she reached the final. Three years later, after a world bronze in the half marathon in 2014, Chepyego took another career break and gave birth to her daughter, Brilliant, in January 2017.
The Kenyan then returned supercharged, earning three top five positions in three World Marathon Majors - Berlin (2019) and Tokyo (2015, 2020), and even winning the Frankfurt Marathon.
Exactly 10 years after her last world championships, the 37-year-old mother-of-two will be one of the oldest marathoners at Budapest 2023.
Keira D’Amato, Marathon
For USA’s fastest marathoner Keira D'Amato, motherhood turned out to be the key to discovering her best shape.
An ardent cross-country and track athlete while in university, she was forced to give up on her running career due to a persistent foot injury.
The 38-year-old had her first child in 2014 and her second two years later. Running then became a way to deal with the pressures of parenting.
Her long runs turned into consistent marathon training and a year post-partum her personal best of 2:40:00 was just two minutes shy of the Tokyo Olympics qualifying mark.
“It took becoming a mother for me to rediscover my love for running,” D'Amato said of how running as a mother helped her regain control of her body and rediscover her passion.
“Instead of my life revolving around running, my life now revolves around family and if I find that little sliver of time in my day for a run, it [feels] like a gift.”
D’Amato finished an incredible fourth at the 2021 Chicago Marathon. She has run even faster since and last year slashed her personal record to 2:19.22.
Seven months after racing to the national female record, she finished eighth at the 2022 Worlds.
The marathon in Budapest will be her second major championship run as she aims for an Olympic debut in Paris.
Liu Hong, 20km race walk
At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Liu Hong was among three new mothers who celebrated their comebacks from maternity leave with gold medals.
The Chinese star, who gave birth to daughter Xixi in November 2017, won her fourth 20km walk, alongside fellow moms Fraser-Pryce and Allyson Felix who topped their sprint events.
The 2016 Olympic champion was honest about motherhood’s impact on her athletics career.
“I have to devote much time to balance family life and training," 35-year-old Liu said. "It was a bit difficult for me as I have to focus on the training and make my training more effective.”
Liu considered retirement in 2021, but is yet to do so and will be racing at her seventh World Athletics Championships in Hungary.