“With hearts full of love and happiness, we are pleased to announce that we are expecting a baby girl in October”. Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils they shared the same message on their social media profiles announcing the arrival of the tennis couple’s daughter. He is French, born in 1986, she from Ukraine, 28 years old in September, they have been married since last year and are one of the most prominent couples in world tennis. In recent months she has been committed and deployed for her country.
The last match played by Elina Svitolina is the first round in Miami on March 24 when the number 27 in the world was already pregnant. Not new since Serena Williams she won the Australian Open in 2017 and after maternity she returned to play, reaching the Wimbledon and US Open finals. She was 36 and even now that she is over 40 she has not left the racket.
Svitolina’s case looks different. There are not many athletes who stop before the age of thirty for maternity. They often await the end of their career, as it did Maria Sharapova. Also because not participating in tournaments brings down the WTA ranking which is also the basis for entry into the scoreboards from Roland Garros to Wimbledon. The more you go down because you don’t play, the harder it is to go back to playing on the big fields. Williams had, for example, many invitations.
Kim Clijsters became the 2009 US Open champion 18 months after the arrival of her daughter Jada. A title that she would also keep the following year. “My husband Brian was always there and we always traveled with a babysitter for Jada. We have created a routine »explained the tennis player. The Belarusian Victoria Azarenka he is still on the court and has a son born in 2016. «Tennis is my job but there is also a different part of life. This pregnancy was a blessing, a gift from God. But I believe that I will still have an opportunity to do what I love and what I love to do is play tennis. “
There are therefore cases of athletes with children who are still in business and who have not been stopped by the pregnancy. Shauna Coxseysport climbing champion, made people talk with her images on the wall at 39 weeks of pregnancy. Alysia Montanonineteenth-century, has competed during both of her pregnancies and has denounced her managers and sponsors ready to cancel her contracts for the baby bump, despite advertisements that tell of inclusiveness.
Josefa Idem she finished third in the World Cup 10 weeks pregnant and achieved her greatest Olympic results after motherhood. There are those who say they are back stronger than before and those who tell of the sacrifices made to bring together family and sporting work. No one has any regrets.
“I realized that I was back even stronger than before. I don’t know how it’s possible since I trained less, but I managed to set lower race times than I had before ». Martina Valcepina he told this to Vanity Fair her return after pregnancy. The blue skater won Olympic medals with the short track team at the Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing Olympics. Her children, her twins, were born in 2014 and she found out about her pregnancy when she was at the Sochi games. The same happened to the spadista in London 2012 Mara Navarria, became world champion as a mother. She did not give up on maternity Valentina Vezzali.
They are almost all individual sports athletes who take the choice of return by themselves like the English marathon runner Paula Radcliffe who won before, after and between pregnancies. The babies were born in 2007 and 2010 and in between she triumphed in two New York marathons. The hope for team sports comes from professionalism which will become official for female players in July. However, there are also those who did it in a team sport such as volleyball Serena Ortolani. Leaving volleyball last January, for her the most beautiful moment of her is linked to her daughter: «The emotion I felt when I returned to the field after the birth of Gaia». Not all went well: Lara Lugli told her story last year, no salary for her pregnant.
Source: Vanity Fair
