Diana Taurasi faced fierce defense during Olympic pool play, yet broke through double teams to get into prime position to shoot and score for the U.S. team.
Britain’s Tom Daley stands on the diving board, mentally calculating all the variables of his dive to ensure he doesn’t make a splash and is on his way to his lofty goal of winning another gold medal.
Besides being medal contenders, what do these two athletes have in common? They’re both parents to young children competing in the Olympics, so with the Olympic legend and parent, they’ll have one less parenting thing to worry about.
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Former sprint champion Allyson Felix has been a longtime advocate for childcare and maternity issues, and since returning to Paris she has been overseeing the construction of a first-of-its-kind infant nursery in the heart of the Olympic Village, a space that will include facilities for changing, breastfeeding and a safe play area for parents hoping to win gold medals.
The initiative was launched in partnership with Olympic partner Procter & Gamble through its diaper brand Pampers, as an extra layer of support for parents of athletes with young children. The move also fills what has long been considered a need of elite-level athletes, and it’s one Felix knows well: She gave birth to her first child in 2018 and has juggled being a world-class athlete on the track with being a mother.
“It was only after my daughter was born and I returned to playing that I realised this issue was not being discussed enough.” “It’s a big deal,” Felix told The Knockturnal last week. “Being a mother as an athlete comes with so many challenges, from the difficulties of traveling and staying in hotels because you don’t have everything you need for your baby to having to breastfeed while competing in a packed stadium.”
Felix retired from competitive athletics after the 2022 World Championships in Athletics as the most decorated U.S. track and field athlete of all time. She ended her Olympic career three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics. She won a surprise bronze medal in the 400 meters and helped the United States win the gold medal in the women’s 4×400 relay.
She went from winning 20 world championships and 11 Olympic medals in 18 years in a career to becoming an advocate for issues such as neonatal care after experiencing complications during the birth of her first child in 2018, and in 2019, her then-sponsor Nike withdrew from her contract. She was asked to cut back on her sponsorship because she was starting a family.
In addition to this project during the Olympics, Felix secured a commitment from Procter & Gamble to donate one million premature diapers to neonatal intensive care units across the country.
Source: Outsports – www.outsports.com
