Olympic champion Jess Learmonth says she pushed the boundaries during her unexpected pregnancy in a bid to keep her Paris 2024 dream alive.
Learmonth, who won gold in the triathlon mixed relay at Tokyo 2020, became a mum for the first time when giving birth to Frederick last September.
The 35-year-old from Leeds fell pregnant during her recovery from a serious hip injury and, having not competed since May 2022, is on a mission to get back to her best in time for this summer’s Olympics.
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She told the PA news agency: “I probably shouldn’t have run on the day I gave birth. I actually pulled my calf on a run in the morning and then gave birth that evening.
“Looking back, I was heavily over my usual running weight and obviously my gait was completely different because I had a big belly.
“Maybe if I hadn’t pulled my calf I’d have said it was fine. But yeah, looking back, with two weeks to go, I probably could have just chilled out a little bit.”
Learmonth, determined to hit the ground running once Frederick was born, found medical research into training while pregnant to be limited.
Until the turn of the century it was rare to see women return to the top of their sport after giving birth.
Learmonth is grateful to the doctors and sports scientists at the National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey and British Triathlon for their support.
“There were certain things I obviously did follow,” she said. “The massive one is not running for 12 weeks post-birth. If you come back too early, you can have problems later down the line.
“I followed all the advice, but it was the stuff they weren’t sure on that I kind of explored myself.
“I was still lifting heavy weights in the gym. I took the information and filtered it for me. They helped me find my own boundaries and explore what I could and couldn’t manage.”
Learmonth stressed that throughout her pregnancy she never allowed her heart rate to go beyond 150 beats per minute, while her approach, so far, appears to be paying off.
Running aside, she is closing in on the performance levels that saw her win Olympic gold and finish second overall in the 2019 World Series after multiple podium finishes.
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“I’m not far away,” said the 2017 European champion. “I’m just not as good as I was before, yet. There have been big changes in my life, having Fred and not training as much.
“It’s interesting to see how my body will react to doing less training and more recovery. It could go either way.”
Learmonth has been surprised by her progress as she targets the first Indoor World Cup event of the season in Lievin, France, for her return to competitive action at the end of March.
“I think Frederick’s helped me a lot because we’ve done a lot of tests in the lab and my numbers are probably just as good, if not better, than pre-pregnancy, certainly on the bike, which has kind of baffled me really,” she said.
“I don’t know if having him and the different hormones you get from having a child and post-birth has kind of helped me out, but it’s been really, really motivating.
“But after pregnancy I’ve found it a lot harder than I thought I would, mainly because of the logistics of him feeding and napping.
“I’m breastfeeding as well, so it’s difficult to get the timings right. I have to make sure, logistically, I’m on it.”
Learmonth, made an MBE in 2022, will not be the first triathlete to return to top-level action after giving birth as fellow Brit and former world champion Vicky Holland and Americans Katie Zaferes and Gwen Jorgensen have paved the way.
“They’ve definitely inspired me,” Learmonth added. “I just wish there was more definitive research out there that shows athletes can have children and come back and be just as good.
“There’s still a lot of stigma around training through pregnancy and certainly what I was doing and I’d love to help get more exposure and help inspire all new mums who want to get back into sport.”
Gardiner, Charlton named flag bearers for The Bahamas ahead of Paris opening ceremony
Reigning 400m Olympic champion Steven Gardiner and World Indoor 60m hurdles champion Devynne Charlton will be flag bearers for The Bahamas at the much-anticipated Paris Olympic Games opening ceremonies on Friday.
Gardiner and Charlton are among the 20 athletes that will represent The Bahamas at the global multi-sport showpiece, which is currently under way and is scheduled to end on August 11.
Track and field and swimming are the two disciplines that the Bahamian contingent will contest at the Games.
Quartermiler Shaunae Miller-Uibo, high jumper Donald Thomas, who is making his fifth Olympic appearance, NCAA and national record holder in the javelin Rhema Otabor, decathlete Ken Mullings, and Charisma Taylor, who contests the triple jump and the 100m hurdles, are also on the team.
Rhaniska Gibbs and Lamar Taylor will represent the Bahamas in the pool.
Meanwhile, quartermiler Lacarthea Cooper finished third in the women’s 400m at the BAAA’s Nationals in 53.38 seconds behind second place finisher Quincy Penn in 53.35 seconds, but did not make the team.
However, Shania Adderley finished fifth in 54.50 seconds and was named to the Olympic team for her contributions as a member of the 4x400m mixed relay team at the World Relays.
Guyana's table tennis star Chelsea Edghill feeling good after 'solid practice sessions' in Paris
By all indications, Guyana’s top table tennis player, Chelsea Edghill is relaxed and ready to go at the Olympic Games as she continues to get acclimatised to conditions in Paris.
Edghill, who is relishing her second Olympic Games appearance, is the only English-speaking Caribbean representative set to compete in table tennis at the global multi-sport showpiece, which got underway with football action on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old, who was eliminated in the first round at the 2020 Tokyo Games, pointed out that she has so far engaged in some solid practice sessions since her arrival in Mulhouse, France, as she hopes to go at least one better on this occasion.
“It was just Guyana in the camp, so we took the time to train with some of the local players and practice with the world master’s bronze medalist and the practice session was good,” Edghill told Chronicle Sport.
“We go back to Paris to settle in for the games but so far we have to train and getting used to the environment. It (table tennis) takes so much skill and practice, I have been doing it for 18 years and it is still very difficult…misconception is that it is easy,” she added.
While her preparation aimed at fine-tuning her skills and focus leading up to the multi-sport event, Edghill has always been self-motivated.
“I am really working on grounding myself and looking inward. If the plan doesn’t work, we just scrap the plan and then start over,” Edghill said in an Instagram post, as she hopes to break barriers and possibly create opportunities for other Guyanese players.
She is joined in Paris by National Coach Idi Lewis, the country’s top swimmer, Aleka Persaud and coach Sean Baksh, as well as track and field star Emanuel Archibald.
Argentina 2-2 Morocco: Medina scores 106th-minute leveller as Albiceleste fight back
Cristian Medina equalised 16 minutes into second-half stoppage time as Argentina fought back for a 2-2 draw with Morocco in their opening game at the Olympic Games in Saint-Etienne.
Morocco looked set to open their Group B campaign with a memorable win when Al Ain striker Soufiane Rahimi scored twice in a five-minute spell either side of half-time.
However, substitute Giuliano Simeone halved the arrears for Javier Mascherano's men, who twice hit the woodwork before Medina nodded home with the final contribution to an incredible game.
Morocco inched ahead two minutes into first-half stoppage time, Ilias Akhomach bamboozling the Argentina defence with a wonderful backheel that allowed Bilal El Khannouss to cross for Rahimi to tap home.
Within four minutes of the restart, Morocco had a chance to double their lead as the tricky Akhomach was pushed inside the area by Julio Soler. Rahimi stepped up to the spot and made no mistake, stroking his kick into the bottom-left corner.
Mascherano's team dragged themselves back into the contest with 22 minutes to play, though, as Soler's cross-shot was prodded in by the stretching substitute Simeone.
The Albiceleste struggled to carve out clear-cut chances to equalise, but Medina saved the day in dramatic circumstances with 116 minutes on the clock.
Munir Mohamedi spilled Thiago Almada's long-range shot then tipped Bruno Amione's follow-up onto the woodwork. Nicolas Otamendi then looped his header against the crossbar but Argentina made sure at the fourth attempt as Medina nodded into an unguarded net.
Data Debrief: Albiceleste leave it late
Medina's leveller was officially timed at 105 minutes and 24 seconds, the lengthy period of stoppage time a result of several heavy challenges and a number of supporters encroaching on the playing field throughout the match.
Few could argue they did not deserve their point, though, having ended the game with a tally of 2.41 expected goals (xG) to Morocco's 1.46.
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