Olympian moms prove that discrimination won't keep them from competing

Female Olympic athletes have long faced pressure to have abortions, but at the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy, they are proving that becoming mothers doesn't mean they can't go for the gold.

Key Takeaways:

• Multiple mothers are competing in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy, including several on Team USA.

• Historically, female athletes have faced discrimination when they become pregnant, including losing sponsorships.

• Many female athletes have had abortions out of fear of losing their career and income.

• While the Olympics have had moments in which they respect the mother-child bond, there is still much work to be done.

The Details:

CNN Sports is reporting on the mothers competing at the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy. Multiple American mothers are on Team USA, and Italian mother Francesca Lollobrigida kicked off the games with a gold medal in speed skating, breaking a record in the process.

For Team USA, three-time Olympic gold medalist Kaillie Humphries and five-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor are mothers competing in the bobsled. Meyers Taylor's sons are both deaf, and Nico has Down syndrome.

"Parenting has really opened me up to be adaptable, even more so on a bobsled course," she said. She dedicated the 2026 Olympic Games to her "hope" for other families who've experienced similar situations with their children.

Humphries, who has one child, said motherhood gave her an "edge." "Being able to be a mom just gives me this whole other superpower... I've learned how to operate off two hours' sleep and fit everything in. That's a skill that helps in sport too," she told NBC.

Brenna Huckaby has two daughters and is a three-time Para snowboard champion for the U.S. She first became a mother at just 19. "Motherhood didn't come naturally for me," she said. "I was young, scared, and fighting to find myself after a childhood of cancer and disability."

On the USA ice hockey team is Kendall Coyne Schofield, a three-time Olympic medalist who had a baby in 2023. “I am different, I’m now a mom, but when I get back on the ice, I’m still the same player. Having a child doesn’t change that," she said in the documentary The Hockey Mom.

She told CNN that her son is her inspiration as an athlete mom. “I knew I could return to not only where I was but better. I wanted my son to know he wasn’t the reason I stopped playing hockey but the reason I continued to play hockey," she said. "And any hard day I might have, or source of inspiration I need, I can just look at him and it’s right in front of me.”

Snowboarder Faye Gulini-Thelen has two children and is a five-time Olympian. Kelly Curtis competes in the skeleton and has two children, and sisters Tara and Tabitha Peterson are both mothers and members of the U.S. curling team.

Other Olympic teams feature mothers as well, with a special mother-son duo on the Mexican ski team. Sara Schleper and her son Lasse Gaxiola, 17, are making history as the first mother and son to compete at the same Winter Olympics.

But it isn't all fun and games for these Olympic moms.

The Backstory:

As reported by The 19th, "Women have been competing in the Olympics since 1900 when they were first granted access to participate, but it’s taken decades for pregnancy and parenthood to be acknowledged as a natural part of an elite athlete’s path — and policy still hasn’t caught up."

Track-and-field star Sanya Richards-Ross, who took home two golds at the 2012 London Olympics, shared in her 2017 memoir that weeks prior to competing in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she learned she was pregnant. She felt she had no option but abortion.

“Everything I ever wanted seemed to be within reach,” she wrote. “The culmination of a lifetime of work was right before me. In that moment, it seemed like no choice at all.”

In an interview with Elle, she explained, "I literally don't know another female track-and-field athlete who hasn't had an abortion — and that's sad. So, for me, I'm hoping that this will open up some discussions, to helping especially a lot of young women who were in my situation not experience what I did."

She shared that female athletes don't take the birth control pill because of the water weight gain, and they are often told that because they are in such good shape and their menstrual cycles are shorter, they can't get pregnant. When they do become pregnant, they fear they will lose everything they worked for, and they often turn to abortion as a solution.

"I made a decision that broke me, and one from which I would not immediately heal," she said. "Abortion would now forever be a part of my life. A scarlet letter I never thought I'd wear."

Unfortunately, it seems that countless other female athletes have taken the same tragic path. The intimidation to abort is strong both because of the pressure to compete well and win, but also to keep sponsorships intact. In 2019, it was revealed that Nike wanted to cut nine-time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix's pay by 70% when she became pregnant. In fact, multiple female athletes said Nike discriminated against them for getting pregnant.

Zoom In:

Two years ago, it seemed the tide might be turning. In 2024, for the first time in history, a private area for breastfeeding was set up, along with a nursery, at the Summer Olympics in Paris for parent athletes to visit their children who were in the "nappy/diaper-wearing age." Yet, things still need to be significantly improved for Olympic mothers.

For example, athletes who stay in the Olympic Village (for free) can't bring their kids to stay with them, and if they want to be with their families, they must pay for their own housing outside of the Village. The 19th shared the story of sailing Olympian Sarah Newberry Moore, who postponed having a child until Covid gave her the opportunity, and she realized she didn't have to choose between her career and having children. "Who made this rule?" she asked. "I'm going to do both." Her son Iren was born in 2021, but when she was on the 2024 Olympic team in Paris, she didn't get the benefits of the nursery space because the sailing competitions took place in Marseille, not Paris. She only saw her son when her husband could bring him to her for a quick hug. Her son wasn't even allowed in her room.

And this year, things seemed to take a step backwards. For the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, there are no breastfeeding spaces and no nursery. Children and families are still not allowed to stay together at the Olympic Village. An organization founded by Olympic medalist and mother Alysia Montaño called For All Mothers+ is providing grants for Olympian moms to help cover airfare, lodging, and childcare, so they can stay with their children during the Games. Montaño knows what it's like to feel discriminated against as an athlete mother; when she became pregnant, she was one of the women whose sponsorship was paused by Nike.

The 19th reported on one mom who received a grant from For All Mothers+, Humphries. It reported, "Kaillie Humphries Armbruster, an Olympic bobsledder, and another member of the USABS Team, called the grant 'a huge relief,' in an interview with Montaño, and explained why it’s so important for her to have her baby there. 'When I go to race, it will have been hours since I’ve seen him,' she said. 'He could care less how I do every single time, but he’s just so excited. He like runs over and he just — he wants Mom. And I’m excited to end an Olympics and have that.'"

The Bottom Line:

No woman should be expected to put her career — athletic or otherwise — before the life of her child. Treating women as though they are 'less than' once they become mothers is discrimination. Mothers are capable of having success outside of raising their children, and this year's Olympic moms are proof.