Fraser-Pryce, Allyson Felix give new definition to motherhood

Fraser-Pryce who is 31-years-old is the oldest woman to ever claim a world or Olympic 100m title

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce proved in front of the whole world what a mother is capable of. The Jamaican blew off everyone by becoming one of the greatest female athletes of all time by crushing her opponents and winning the women’s 100 meters finals at the ongoing World Championships here in Doha.

Fraser-Pryce marked an unimaginable time of 10.71 seconds and thumped her fourth medal in the World Championship title and eighth title in her overall tally. This win is very special not just to her but also to all her fans and to the women because the player claimed her medal after giving birth to a child.

To make it more interesting, along with her eighth world title, Fraser-Pryce, who is 32-years-old, is the oldest woman to ever claim a world or Olympic 100m title. Also, she is the first mother to achieve this honor. She secured a bronze medal in the year 2016 and made her dream come true on Sunday by clinching gold and this is indeed one of the most impressive achievements that are going to be forever cherished by her.

And now she has decided that she will not be running the 200m in Doha and will only focus on the 4x100m, this is because she is not completely up to her game and needs time to improve on fitness.

Mom’s day continues

It was not just Fraser-Pryce who became “The Mom” of the World Athletics Championship, but to accompany her, Allyson Felix who is also a new mother started her tournament season on a winning note. She not only grabbed her 12^th medal as part of the gender-mixed 4x400 relay but also broke mighty Usain Bolt’s record of grabbing most gold medals at the World Athletics Championships.

It is always said that in order to reach higher, one has to struggle and Felix has experienced her share of pain and struggle. Her journey has not been a cakewalk. In November 2018, Felix struggled with preeclampsia and had to undergo an emergency C-section at 32 weeks of her pregnancy, where she delivered a baby girl. And she is back to business in less than a year, no wonder why everyone calls Felix a world-class athlete.

The struggle that Felix has faced was not just physical, but it was mental as well. Her sponsor Nike was not very supportive of the player initially, for taking the break from athletics in order to start a family. She wrote her story in the New York Times and after her article, Nike altered its terms of the contract for pregnant athletes. Felix ultimately broke ties with the brand and is now sponsored by Athleta.

The achievement that these women have received is worth applauding as it is definitely difficult or at times out of question to get back to sports after giving birth because the postpartum is actually the most concerning time for the women, where most of them just lose the confidence of going back to what they were doing. It is not just about Felix or Fraser-Pryce, but there are other women athletes as well who proved that motherhood can change lives but you can still come back to where you belong. Players like Serena Williams, Sania Mirza have also proved that their career is far from over after becoming a mother.

No show at World Athletics Championship

At the tournament where mothers are making the whole world proud, there’s another part of the story which is quite disheartening. The ongoing World Athletics Championship is one of the important tournaments for this sport just like a Cricket World Cup or Wimbledon or US Open or a FIFA event, but the response that this tournament has received is really less. Right from the empty stadiums to people not even watching it, the sport has not received enough attention.

Such events should get more attention as the time span for each competition is really less compared to other sports. Therefore, more people should come out and support the players that work day and night to make their country proud.

Nevertheless, even though the crowd is less for the ongoing tournament, the women participating in the Championship are making a statement and taking up the feminism to a whole new level.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are the personal views of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)