In the sports world, the news went like an ongoing fire last May. Six months after the birth of her daughter Pepper, the Canadian Stephanie Case (42) finished as the first woman in the largest ultramarathon in Great Britain. She ran the Snowdonia trail in a time of 16.53.22, and breastfed Pepper three times in between.
I think the story is not alone viral Went because of that impressive achievement, but also because Case pointed the spotlight on something that many sports women moffs away: their lives as a mother. We do know that sports women are sometimes also a mother, but it still seems as if a top sport body has nothing to do with the body that is passed as much when it carries new life, a child makes birth, goes through a hormonal roller coaster and gives food.
Finding a good balance between top sport and motherhood is not easy, Be a recent study among Norwegian top sports women earlier. Not because women cannot handle that combination, but because they get too little support from sponsors and sports federations. “There is a need for clear policy with regard to pregnancy and maternity leave in top sport, as well as further research into intensive training during pregnancy and a safe return in sport after the birth,” the researchers write. They state that motherhood with skilled guidance can easily be combined with top sport, and that motherhood can even give a sports career a lift. “With the right support, motherhood does not have to cut off the career of an athlete early.”
I contacted Case, and asked her what she finds the most difficult thing about the combination of top sport and motherhood. Her answer is in line with what the women in Norwegian research also say: “The feeling that as a sportswoman I was left to my fate with a desire to have a child.” Because so little scientific research has been done into this theme, she said, doctors often tell sports women that they should take it easy if they have children, or put an end to their career. “We are forced to choose between motherhood and our passions. That should not be the case.”
Not everyone could appreciate it, Case said, that she breastfed her child during the race. “People said I was selfish or should have stayed at home with my baby, and some women complained that my story was only putting other mothers under pressure to ‘do everything’. I think there is still a lot of work to be done to reduce the pressure, control and judgment about new mothers, and also to realize that mothers are multidimensional. keep pursuing. ”
Many sports women suffer in silence under the problems they experience (in the run -up to) motherhood, says Case. They do not express themselves because they are afraid of throwing their chances of sponsoring, and because of shame, “because there is still a stigma.”
Does Lizzie Deignan, the successful British cyclist who stopped race last week, because she expected her third child in February, has similar experiences? In 2018, Deignan (36) gave birth to a daughter, in 2022 from a son. Since then she has won Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2020), La Course (2020) and Paris-Roubaix Femmes (2021).
Deignan says it surprised her how heavy it was to combine cycling with the care of a child. Heavier than, for example, the physical recovery after a birth. Not so much because she often matched the children-her husband, former cyclist Philip Deignan, did that, if she rode races-but because after training she could no longer get off the bike to recover. Then all the attention went straight to the children.
Just like Case, Deignan does not understand why so little scientific research is being done into top sport and motherhood. For example, what about intensive exertion during pregnancy? “Often I was Googling on my own, because there were no experts who could lead me through the process.”
Nowadays, cyclists who have a child can fall back on clauses in UCI contracts, but why are those clauses not included in the contracts of male colleagues, Deignan wonders. “As long as that is not the case, you determine that the care for children is the responsibility of women.”
If there is one sports association that has a great eye for motherhood in top sport, then the tennis association is WTA. Players get through the Maternity Fund Program Up to a maximum of one year of financial support during pregnancy (amounts are not mentioned) . They can also get a contribution for treatments in a fertility clinic, and are entitled to a protected ranking if they are out of circulation for more than 10 weeks in a row due to treatment in such a clinic.
Former tennis star Maria Sharapova (38) is one of those who have worked hard for these regulations. She feels so involved in the subject that she recently decided to invest in Cofertility, an American company that freezes egg cells, among other things. Is that the answer to the sometimes difficult combination of top sport and motherhood? And who has to pay the costs (around 15,000 dollars in the US)?
“I think every team, every competition or every sports organization that is capable of offering eggs must offer sports women,” Mail Sharapova, who himself had a child at the age of 35. “It is advantageous for both parties: athletes can extend their career without having to give up their desire for children, while teams, competitions and sports organizations can benefit from their talent longer than would otherwise be the case.”
Sharapova agrees that freezing egg cells is not something that sports women openly talk about. “There is still a stigma on fertility and reproductive health,” she says. And especially in the sports world, where players are constantly pointing out that they should be tough. She calls it “crucial” that it changes.