🥇 The Olympics MOM Edition 🥇

As the 2024 Paris Olympics come to a close today, we want to send a special edition of The CARRY™ ALL, taking a moment to highlight some of the incredible women who made us ugly cry over the last two weeks.

This year’s Olympics was an incredible one for women - and for MOMS! In fact, it made history by being the first to achieve gender parity! Let’s gooooo!

But this Olympics was one for the books for elite athlete mothers as well. Keep reading for a few of our favorites.

Enjoy today’s 5 minute read, mamas. xo

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THE BIG 1️⃣ 2️⃣ 3️⃣

1️⃣ 🤱 Athletes Can Breastfeed

Allyson Felix is our hero. The most decorated track and field athlete of ALL TIME didn’t compete this time around, but the mom of two should get a Gold Medal for her advocacy, collaborating with Pampers to provide the FIRST-EVER nursery in the Olympic Village, where parents could reunite with their littles and moms could nurse in comfort. Aside from providing this much-needed space, the nursery allowed athletes to focus on their sport, without having to worry about being separated for long periods of time from their small children.

2️⃣ 🤰 Athletes Can Be Pregnant

In this year’s Olympics, we were shown yet again just how incredible women are. After competing in Women’s Saber, Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez announced that she did so 7 months pregnant! So the next time someone doubts whether a pregnant woman can work in an intense office environment, invite them to kindly see Exhibit A 👇🏻.

3️⃣ 👯‍♀️ Women CAN and DO Support Each Other

While none of the Olympic gymnasts competing this year are moms yet, they deserve an honorable mention in The Big 3 for being incredible humans. Hardly does the world get to witness such incredible sportsmanship as it did when superstar American gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowed to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade as she took her spot in 1st. Not only was this the FIRST all-black Olympic podium ever, but it was a beautiful example that we can all learn from.

A Year for Moms 🤎

While the exact number of athlete mothers who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics is not known, 16 mothers represented Team USA.

The roster of American moms notably included tennis player Naomi Osaka, who has a 1-year old daughter, and basketball player Brittney Griner, whose son is just a month old.

In fact, eight children belonged to the USA Basketball team (both 5-on-5 and 3×3), much different from the 2021 Tokyo games when only 2 basketball players were mothers. (That year, moms had to leave their children home due to COVID-19 protocols. 🥹)

USA Basketball even held the Paris Toddler Olympics halfway through the 2024 Games. The kids of all the NBA and WNBA players were invited to participate in an obstacle course including jumping, crawling, and putting basketballs away. (In case you were wondering, ALL participants in this event received a gold medal. 🤗 )

While women have a long way to go when it comes to true equality and affordable child care, the 2024 Paris Olympics showed the world that women not only matter, but are badasses as well. And since every mom knows that balancing work and family is an Olympic feat in and of itself, here are some ways that employers can change the game for working parents.

Congrats to all the amazing athletes who participated!