Alex Morgan’s pregnancy and 3 more athletes
Being a mother and athlete at the same time is not impossible and these women have proven it.
Alex Morgan and her husband in the announcement of their pregnancy. / Photo: instagram.com/alexmorgan13
LatinAmerican Post | Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz
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Leer en español: El embarazo de Alex Morgan y 3 atletas más
Last week, popular American footballer Alex Morgan announced her first pregnancy. Morgan is striker in Orlando's Pride team, a club belonging to the National Women's Soccer League and since December 2014 is married to the Mexican-born soccer player, Servando Carrasco.
Well, through a tender post on Instagram, the world champion announced that she is waiting for her baby. Thus, the reactions did not wait and many of her followers congratulated the player through tender messages. On the social network, Morgan wrote “We are already in love and we haven’t even met her yet. Newest member of the Carrasco family, coming soon.”
While it is known that the athlete will miss the rest of the season, according to USA Today, due to a knee injury, the athlete has not revealed postpartum plans. Still, Yahoo Sports reports that there is a possibility that Morgan will rejoin before the Olympics in Tokyo next year.
If she returns to the team, she would be added to the list of athletes who return to their discipline; as in the case of the athlete Allyson Felix who ran again 13 months after giving birth, at the World Athletics Championships in Qatar, or tennis player Serena Williams who returned 11 months after.
Like Alex Morgan, we present 3 athletes who in 2019 were not only pregnant, but have returned to their discipline after giving birth.
Sidney Leroux
It turns out that Alex Morgan is not the only one who has been pregnant at the Orlando's Pride club. The team's striker, Sydney Leroux, shared her pregnancy and surprised more than one person during the National Women's Soccer League preseason when playing a game while being 5 months pregnant. In this regard, Leroux published on her Instagram account that "I didn’t think I’d be starting off preseason 5.5 months pregnant but here we are."
In addition, and after giving birth in June 2019, exactly three months after his second son was born, Leroux returned to the courts and his beautiful moment was recorded on his Twitter account:
I love this game. This past year was filled with so many ups and downs but I made a promise to myself that I would come back. No matter how hard that would be. It’s been a long road but I did it. 3 months and one day after I gave birth to my baby girl. pic.twitter.com/t89zsaAVSh
— Sydney Leroux Dwyer (@sydneyleroux) September 29, 2019
Natasha Hastings
The American runner and gold medal in the 4 × 400 meters Olympic relay 2008 and 2016 refused to choose between her sports career and motherhood.
However, the athlete revealed to USA Today how hard it was at the beginning, "I hate using the word disappointment because I was elated to meet this person, but at the beginning, it was a struggle." Faced with deciding between one or the other, she said that "when we, as women, decide to start our family, we literally sometimes face the choice of family versus career and it shouldn't be that way."
The athlete gave birth to her son last August, and she returned to training to focus on her next goal: the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Meanwhile, she meets routines and workouts to be able to be a mother and athlete at the same time.
Also read: Serena Williams is taking it to another level
Jackeline Renteria
The popular Colombian fighter is recognized for having won the bronze medal in Beijing 2008 and London 2012. At 32, the athlete announced that she was waiting for her first daughter and in dialogue with El Colombiano, Rentería said, “I am happy for this new stage of my life, which I share with love next to the man who taught me to love in a special way. This feeling is my greatest joy and the best medal that, as a woman, I can hang in my heart. More motivated for the Pan American Games in Lima-2019 and the Tokyo-2020 Olympics,” she said.
In March, Rentería gave birth to a little girl named Maily Salome. Five months after having her daughter, she participated in the 2019 Pan American Games Lima, taking the silver medal in the 62 kg fight category. Now, the fighter continues to train to meet her next goal: the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.