Tania Cagnotto and Elisa Di Francisca, the athletes who have chosen motherhood

“I have chosen life.” They used pretty much the same words Tania Cagnotto and Elisa Di Francisca, the two blue athletes who, a few months away from each other, announced their new motherhood. For them a rebirth in the year that saw the postponement of the Olympics they were aiming for as the last sporting event of their career.

«The Olympics does not depend on me, a child does. And with the children you have to be: I exclude, from May to August, a record and frenzied chase in Tokyo.

I will nurse, I will raise my children, I will watch the Games on television without regrets. I chose a child, I didn’t choose me. There is no going back ”said the foilist Elisa Di Francisca who will become a mother in the spring for the second time after the birth of Ettore.

The second baby girl will be born first Tania Cagnotto, silver and bronze in Rio 2016. The blue diver had also returned to the pool in view of the Tokyo games, at the push of her colleague Francesca Dallapè, but during the lockdown she chose the family. The motivation is the same. «On the one hand, the desire to participate in my sixth Olympics as a mother, with the great dream of carrying the flag, and, on the other, the desire to expand the family. This time I chose life, family, ”he wrote on Instagram last August.

«Destiny wanted to give me a new life inside of me. I know that many of you wanted to see me once again on the trampoline and I’m sorry to have disappointed you but in this lockdown, as has happened to so many others, I had time to reflect and understand what was most important to me. I no longer had that willpower (which guided me for 20 years) to commit myself and sacrifice myself in the way an Olympics requires it, ”he wrote again.

The postponement of the games, due to Covid, has changed the perspective for both athletes. “Faced with the uncertainty of an Olympics still in the balance, I decided to cling to the value that my parents, family, and to believe in a better world,” explained the 38-year-old foil player, two gold medals at London 2012 and a silver at Rio 2016.

For athletes who compete in individual sports, motherhood always coincides with a break from sports, but always leaves the possibility of returning open. Josefa Idem won more as a mother than before having children. For most of these athletes in Italy there is maternity brought about by belonging to a military body, for the others, in the international field, the possibility of stopping depends on contracts and support from the sponsor.

Team sports athletes are making the path for this right. Just a few weeks ago, Fifa assured that the players will be guaranteed maternity leave: they may be 14 weeks old and their club is required to reintegrate them into the team and provide them with medical assistance. “If we really want to encourage and encourage football among women, we must take all these aspects into account. Footballers need not be afraid of losing their jobs or not playing anymore if they choose to have a child. They need stability and security that was not guaranteed in their careers until now. They don’t have to worry about anything when they are ready to take the field again, ”said president Gianni Infantino.

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