Mothers On Field : The Sports Women Who Got Stronger After Motherhood

While Motherhood is seen as one of the most beautiful phases for a woman, it also comes with a lot of patriarchal connotations. Many starts believing that after the birth of her child, a woman must be relegated to the upbringing and care of the child. This her new career and everything other than her child must come to a halt. However, this is not true. A woman is much more than a mother. She still has a bigger and a better career ahead of her even after she embraces motherhood. This fact was proved over and over again by some of the amazing Sports Women who showed- that motherhood is not the end, it is just another break in their career graph. These formidable women broke the glass ceiling and made some great comebacks after becoming a mother. Their strength is something to be looked upon-

Read More : Gender Inequality In Sports

Serena Williams

The strength of the amazing Serena Williams is what will go down in history. She is one of the greatest tennis players to have walked on earth. Not only did she come back after her pregnancy, but she went on to win the Australian Open while she was eight weeks pregnant. She was later confirmed that she came to know about her pregnancy just a few days prior to the Australian Open. She then came back to professional tennis even after a rather life threatening and complicated pregnancy. This Sports Woman exudes a kind of strength that is hard to find in anybody.

Kim Clijsters

Kim Clijsters was the Sports Woman who redefined the strength of Motherhood and took it to another level. Kim came back to tennis after giving birth to her daughter and overturned patriarchy in the best way possible.

Her decision to come back to professional tennis was already a big deal since it was almost unheard of. But, what made it even more amazing is that she went on to win the US Open final in 2009- a year after the birth of her daughter when she defeated Caroline Wozniacki. Previously the Belgian has only won one Grand slam in 2005, but this was a spellbinding feat. Overnight she turned out to inspiration to every mother and every single human being who watched her in action.

Mary Kom

Mary Kom hadn’t really unleashed her true potential when she initially started as a professional boxer. She really started peaking after the both of her twins, gave her some kind of undeniable strength. Her sheer love for the sports couldn’t keep her away from the ring, and so she went on to become one of the best boxers from India. She became India’s first Sports Woman in boxing to win a medal at the 2012 Olympics in London. She topped that up by winning gold in the Asian games in 2014. She is truly a powerful and inspirational person.

Lindsay Davenport

Another tennis player, Davenport actually started her career in the 90s. She rose to fame when she won the US Open, the Australian Open and the Wimbledon during that time. Yet, her career was marred by injuries which made her go downhill. Even though she lost from both Serena Williams and Venus Williams in 2005 Australian Open final and Wimbledon Final respectively, she was still ranked World №1

She announced her retirement when she got pregnant, but her passion for tennis couldn’t keep her away. She returned in 2007 and made a fairytale comeback. She then went to win the WTA title in Bali, making it her first title win post pregnancy.

Dara Torres

This Sports Woman is nothing short of a miracle. She rose to fame when she won four gold medals in four Olympics. But, what really catapulted her into the history books, was just after 16 months post the birth of her first child, Torres came back and won a silver medal 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the age of 41, she becomes the oldest swimmer to achieve this feat.

Paula Radcliffe

It is often said that giving birth actually increases the strength and capabilities of a woman. This was further proven by Paula Radcliffe. This Sports Woman holds the world record of the fastest time recorded by a woman in a marathon race.

Her career was hampered by serval injuries, which put her in the sidelines in 2006. Her pregnancy in July further delayed her comeback.

But when she did come back, she came back with a bang. She went on to win the 2007 New York Marathon and defended that title in 2008.

Kara Goucher

Kara was already a great athlete and even took away a bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships in the enduring 10,000 meters. She then gave birth to her son in 2010, and immediately got back on her feet and started taking part in professional races. In 2011, she ran her career best marathon and then went on to win the USA Half Marathon Championships. She peaked after the birth of her child and showed how strong motherhood really makes you.

Dana Vollmer

Dana was already making history since she dived into the world of professional swimming. At a tender age of 12, she was the youngest person to compete at the 2000 Olympic Trials. She also took home many medals at the 204 and 2012 Olympic Games. Her son was born in 2015, which recently did not stop her from achieving more accolades. In 2016 she went on to win more medals in the Olympics.

Christie Rampone

This soccer player is a force to be reckoned with. Rampone had gained a reputation of being extremely powerful in the field, which certainly did not change after the birth of her child.

Before having kids, she represented the US women’s team in both the World Cup and the Olympic games. Even after her two children were born, she continued to represent the US Soccer Team. The American made two comebacks- one after her first child was born in 2005, and second after her second child was born in 2010. She even helped the US reach the finals in 2011 World Cup. In 2012. Christie powered the US team to victory and bagged the gold medal as a captain.

Kerri Walsh Jennings

Kerri Walsh has been a beach baby since her childhood. For more than two decades she managed to dominate the beach volleyball scene with her ex-teammate Misty May-Treanor. She and her teammate had even won Olympic Golds in 2004, 2008 and 2012. In between all of this Kerri embraced motherhood. Her first child was both in 2010, and the second child was born in 2012. Kerri was also five weeks into her pregnancy at the 2012 Olympics.

Even after the birth of her daughter, she won a silver medal along with teammate April Ross at the 2016 Olympics.

Nia Ali

Nia was breaking records since her start. She won the 100-meter hurdle track fiend event at the World Indoor Championship with an amazing time of only 7.80 seconds. She then has to take some time off in 2015 to give birth to her son. In 2016, she made her come back to defend her gold medal in the same event and went on to record a time of 7.81 seconds. In the same year, she won the silver medal at the Olympic Games for the 100-meter hurdles. She was instrumental in helping the women’s team in earning their first-ever sweep at that event- they went away with gold, silver and bronze.

Kristin Armstrong

This cyclist has won bagged a gold medal in the women’s road time trial at the 2008 Olympics. However, she announced her retirement in order to start her family. She then realised that the sporting arena was calling out for her and she proceeded to get back into action in 2012. She once again won gold in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Candace Parker

Candace Parker was always a prodigy. In her high school, she becomes the first and only player to win the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award two years in a row. Her college life too filled with records, and she was also the first ever Sports Woman to dunk in a college game. As she went pro, she bagged both the rookie player award and the Most Valuable Player Awards. After a child was born she came back to sports only after seven weeks and ended up winning the Most Valuable Player Award for the 2012–2013 season. She also helped the US Women basketball team to two Olympic Golds in 2012 and 2016.

Read More : The Lack Of Participation Among Disabled People In Sports

Originally published at Sporcial.