In March, the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organizing Committee announced that the Tokyo Games would be the “first gender-balanced Olympics Games in history”. From the right to breastfeed to fighting to qualify, sportswomen who are mothers have been battling against societal narratives of motherhood and smashing stereotypes for years. Maternity leave and pregnancy have been recorded as often leading to a big cut reduction in sponsorship money. It has taken decades for motherhood to be considered a normal part of a female athlete’s journey.
From the right to breastfeed to fighting to qualify, sportswomen who are mothers have been battling against societal narratives of motherhood and smashing stereotypes for years.
After a break with long-time sponsor Nike, Allyson Felix’s quite vocal advocacy has forced major corporations to reconsider how they support female athletes before and after pregnancy. Felix, who has a child of her own Camryn, has been advocating for female athletes to receive child-care help as they train for their sport. Canadian basketball player Kimberly Gaucher faced the tough choice of either not participating in the Summer Games or not be able to breastfeed her child for 28 days, since the authorities did not let families join the players this time, due to the pandemic. An emotional Instagram post by Gaucher led Tokyo to relent but the situation did not change for all.