Alysia Montano looks radiant as she finishes the race.
Alysia Montano didn't have to win her race to make headlines at the USA Track and Field Championships last week.
?The 31 year old athlete, who is known for running with flowers in her hair, ran the 800m race while five months pregnant with her second child. She recorded a time of 2:21.40 in searing heat to finish 30th overall. This wasn't enough to earn a spot in the semifinals, but that wasn't the goal - Montano said she hopes her effort empowers and inspires women who might feel pressured to follow a specific trajectory in life, whether pregnant or not.
Incredibly, this isn't the first time she has completed such a feat. In 2014, she ran the same race while 8 months pregnant with her first baby. This time, first trimester symptoms such as fatigue and nausea affecting her ability to train, being lighter meant she finished 11 seconds faster. Then she chased two year old Linnea around the track after finishing the race.
A real life Wonder Woman!
Montana is a very successful track and field athlete - she is a seven-time United States champion, a two-time American record holder, and she’s won three Olympic medals. And she's far from the only woman achieving amazing feats while pregnant. She appears in this video featuring women who have done everything from winning tennis championships to performing to huge crowds with an unborn baby in tow.
Live Action News says:
"Earlier this month, five-time Olympic medalist Sanya Richards-Ross opened up about her decision to have an abortion just weeks before she was due to compete in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Richards-Ross felt at the time that she could not give up the Olympics, but now deeply regrets her decision. She wanted to share her story so that other female athletes — who she says frequently find themselves in similar positions — will know they are not alone. Hopefully, women like Montano and Richards-Ross can, together, blaze a new path that demands better for female athletes than abortion."
News in brief: