Minutes after this New Zealand rowing team won gold at the 2024 Paris Games, they were picking up their kids (who were born just a few months apart) to celebrate with a cuddle. “Raising kids isn’t easy,” Francis said at the time. “It takes a village, and we’ve had that whole village behind us this whole way. It only makes [it] that much more special. Even just the fact that our families are here, let alone our kids, and our kids get to see this legacy now.”
Brittney Griner
Griner is possibly the newest parent on this list, as she and her wife, Cherelle, only welcomed their baby boy, Bash, a month ago, on July 8. Griner noted that heading to Paris for the 2024 Olympics wasn’t an easy decision—“It kind of sucks because I have to leave, but at the same time he’ll understand,” she said recently on a podcast—but hopefully, Team USA’s place in the Olympic quarterfinals is helping to sweeten the deal.
Nada Hafez
This 26-year-old Egyptian fencer competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics while seven months pregnant with her first child, referring to herself as “carrying a little Olympian.” (Are you crying? Because we’re crying.) “My baby & I had our fair share of challenges, be it both physical & emotional,” Hafez wrote on Instagram. “The rollercoaster of pregnancy is tough on its own, but having to fight to keep the balance of life & sports was nothing short of strenuous, however worth it.”
