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Allyson Felix, Alex Morgan and other athlete mothers changing the game

Andy Lyons/Getty Images for IAAF

It seems like every Olympic cycle we are presented with female athletes accomplishing ever more impressive feats both during pregnancy or while mothering infants and young children. These women have again and again challenged misbeliefs regarding what the human body is capable of.

Ahead of Tokyo, however, we’re seeing a new level of advocacy and activism from athlete moms who refuse to accept the notion that one must choose between elite level sports and motherhood. 

The four women featured below are tired of the rare story of a magnificent athlete being praised for somehow fitting children into her athletic career. Instead, they are fighting for systemic changes and built-in protections to normalize motherhood at even the highest levels of sports.  

Allyson Felix, Track and Field

It’s hard to think of an athlete who has done more for maternal rights in the sporting world than Allyson Felix. In 2018, during contract negotiations with Nike, the newly pregnant Felix refused to re-sign unless Nike changed their stipulations around pregnancy for its female athletes. 

Up until this point, a Nike athlete’s pay could be paused, reduced, or terminated if they failed to meet contractual performance standards during pregnancy and post-partum recovery. It wasn’t until Felix and a couple fellow athletes went public with their complaints, and a congressional inquiry was conducted, that Nike changed its policies and announced new maternity protections for all of its female athletes. By that time, Felix had found a new sponsor in Athleta, a company she felt fully supported all aspects of her identity, and with whom she recently launched her own footwear and lifestyle brand, Saysh.

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Steph Chambers/Getty Images

In her latest move to support athlete mothers, Felix and Athleta teamed up with the Women’s Sports Foundation to create a $200,000 fund for mom-athletes to help offset childcare costs associated with travel for competition. Six of the first nice recipients are athletes headed to Tokyo this summer.

If what she’s done off the track is impressive, what she’s still doing on the track is mind blowing. She’s a 35-year-old mother of a toddler who just qualified for her fifth Olympic games, which is hard to fathom in any sport, but even more so in sprinting, where longevity at the upper echelon is fleeting. Felix will be joined on the 400M U.S. Olympic team by first place qualifier Quanera Hayes, who has a toddler of her own. After the two mothers qualified together, Hayes expressed her gratitude to Felix, saying “I just told her I was grateful for all that she’s done for mothers, being that I am a mother, how she fought for us and her paving the way for me as an athlete and all she has done for this sport.”

Kim Gaucher, Basketball

Canadian National Basketball Team member Kim Gaucher has a three-month-old daughter and is heading into her third Olympics. She’s been part of the Canadian national team since 2001 but has been playing basketball primarily in Europe after a brief stint in the WNBA. The 13th overall pick in the 2006 draft, Gaucher became the first female student-athlete to have her jersey retired by the University of Utah. 

In the lead up to the Tokyo games this summer, Gaucher took to social media for what she called a “hail mary” to convince Olympic organizers to let breast-feeding athletes bring their children with them to Tokyo.

In her heartfelt plea she stated, “All I’ve ever wanted out of my basketball career has been to rep Canada at the Olympics… But right now I’m being forced to decide between being a breastfeeding mom or an Olympic athlete. I can’t have them both. Tokyo has said no friends, no family, no exceptions.”

When her video garnered traction online, media attention followed, and Tokyo officials felt the heat. Within a week of her posting her plea, the IOC announced Olympic mothers would be allowed to bring their breastfeeding children with them to Tokyo. Upon hearing the good news, Gaucher stated, “To all of the working moms out there who’ve had to fight this fight before, I think it’s just a really good day for women in sport.”

Mandy Bujold, Boxing

In late 2019, eleven-time Canadian National Champion boxer Mandy Bujold was well on track to qualify for her second Olympic games. Her first Olympic experience in Rio in 2016 had ended in heartbreak when she was hospitalized due to illness and then promptly lost in the quarterfinals. After taking time off from competing in 2018 and 2019 to have her daughter, Bujold had re-entered the ring and was looking to redeem her disappointing 2016 showing. When Covid-19 cancelled Olympic qualification events, the IOC Boxing Task Force decided to use rankings from three tournaments in 2018 and 2019 to determine Tokyo 2020 qualification.

Unfortunately for Bujold, she had been out during that time with pregnancy and post-partum recovery. After her original appeal to the IOC for an accommodation was denied, her last hope was to submit her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 

On June 30, the CAS ruled that the IOC Boxing Task Force qualification system must include an accommodation for women who were pregnant or postpartum during the qualification period. Bujold was named to the official Olympic roster the following week and considers the CAS ruling a huge victory for female athletes.

“I am so proud that we’ve set a human rights precedent for female athletes now, and for the generations to come.” If this ruling is applied to all sports and all Olympic qualifying systems, it would be a monumental change for female Olympians going forward. 

Alex Morgan, Soccer

Alex Morgan is far from the first athlete to return to the USWNT after birthing a child (or children), but she’s the only mother on the current roster. She’s also arguably the most famous U.S. soccer player to become a mother in the midst of her career, and fans can’t get enough of seeing her as a mom with her daughter Charlie. With so many eyeballs on her actions and choices as a mother, she is greatly impacting how the public perceives professional athlete moms. By sharing training videos during her pregnancy, Morgan challenged misconceptions about the capabilities of pregnant bodies and physical training during pregnancy.

In her first interview after becoming a mom, Morgan told longtime friend and teammate Kelley O’Hara on the Just Women’s Sport podcast that she was frustrated by the dearth of research and data on training for pregnant athletes. 

“I found some blogs about women running marathons late in pregnancy,” she recalled, “so I just tried to be as careful as possible but stick to who I am as an athlete.”

As the once-postponed Olympics finally approached, there was confusion around Covid-19 restrictions for Olympic mothers with breastfeeding children. Morgan used her platform to speak out, calling for clarity and empowerment for mothers in this category like herself.

Morgan raises her voice when needed, but it’s really in her daily actions as a mom and a star of the most popular women’s sports team in the world that she constantly redefines how we view mom athletes.

US Tennis Stars Advance as Wimbledon Field Narrows

Italy's Jasmine Paolini celebrates her first-round win over Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
World No. 4 Jasmine Paolini fell in the second round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday. (Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images)

The 2025 Wimbledon Championships wrapped its second round on Thursday, with the grass court Grand Slam seeing just 15 of the tournament's 32 seeded players advance to the Friday and Saturday's third round.

A full half of the WTA's Top 10 players did not survive the week, with 2024 Wimbledon finalist and world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini joining four first-round star exits by falling to unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova in a three-set, second-round battle on Wednesday.

At the same time, unseeded fan favorites like Japan's No. 53 Naomi Osaka and England's own No. 40 Emma Raducanu secured third-round spots at the London Slam, joining top surviving contenders like No. 4 Iga Świątek and defending Wimbledon champion No. 16 Barbora Krejčíková.

Notably, a full five US players managed to move ahead, tied for the largest national contingent still standing at the tournament.

Led by 2025 Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys, the US group also includes No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 12 Amanda Anisimova, as well as unseeded players No. 54 Danielle Collins and No. 55 Hailey Baptiste.

With matches against Świątek and No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, respectively, Collins and Baptiste have a tough third round ahead — though Navarro's battle against the 2024 champ Krejčíková arguably headlines Saturday's slate.

US tennis star Emma Navarro eyes a return during a 2025 Wimbledon match.
US star Emma Navarro will face 2024 champ Barbora Krejčíková in Wimbledon's Round of 32. (Rob Newell/CameraSport via Getty Images)

How to watch Wimbledon this weekend

While world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is still holding strong in the dwindling field, this year's Wimbledon play is proving that the London Slam is anyone's to take, as the grass court humbles even the sport's top stars.

Expect the twists and turns to continue as tennis's best battle for spots in Sunday's Round of 16.

Round-of-32 Wimbledon play kicks off at 6 AM ET on Friday, with live continuous coverage of the tournament airing on ESPN.

Finland Opens Women’s Euro 2025 with Upset Upset Win Over Iceland

Finland's Katariina Kosola and Emma Koivisto celebrate a goal during their opening 2025 Euro match.
Finland earned a surprise 1-0 win over Iceland in their 2025 Euro opener on Wednesday. (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

The 2025 European Championship is officially underway, as Euro action kicked off with a group-stage upset on Wednesday.

Though the 2025 UEFA tournament's opener was a sweltering affair amid a European heat wave, world No. 26 Finland prevailed, earning a 1-0 upset win over No. 14 Iceland in Group A.

Finnish winger Katariina Kosola played hero, curling in the winning goal in the match's 70th minute — just 12 minutes after Iceland midfielder Hildur Antonsdóttir picked up the competition's first red card.

"The result is important for our confidence," Kosola said after Finland's first major tournament win since the 2009 Euro. "It was the kind of goal I have been practicing a lot."

"It's terrible to lose and we feel frustrated," said Iceland head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson. "It is an even group and we knew Finland were good, but our first half wasn't good enough."

Elsewhere, No. 16 Norway closed out Wednesday's slate on top of Group A, taking three points by defeating host No. 23 Switzerland in day's second match.

Led by captain and 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg — who pulled the match even with a second-half strike — Norway battled to a 2-1 comeback win, despite the Swiss side outshooting and out-possessing the Norwegians.

Spain jersey hang in lockers ahead of the team's 2025 Euro opening match against Portugal.
Reigning World Cup champions Spain will open their 2025 Euro account against Portugal. (Aitor Alcalde - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

How to watch this week's 2025 Euro action

Group B steals the 2025 Euro spotlight on Thursday.

While No. 13 Italy snagged a 1-0 opening win over No. 20 Belgium to kick off the day, 2023 World Cup champions and tournament favorite No. 2 Spain will face No. 22 Portugal at 3 PM ET.

Friday's Group C slate will pit No. 12 Denmark against No. 6 Sweden at 12 PM ET, before No. 3 Germany contends with No. 27 Poland at 3 PM ET.

Closing out the first group-stage matches will be arguably the toughest draw of the 2025 Euro pool.

Saturday's Group D slate features major tournament debutants No. 30 Wales against the No. 11 Netherlands at 12 PM ET, with No. 10 France taking on defending champions No. 5 England to cap the day at 3 PM ET.

Live coverage of 2025 Euro matches will air across Fox Sports platforms.

USWNT Caps Summer Friendlies with 3-0 Canada Shutout

Yazmeen Ryan, Michelle Cooper, Claire Hutton, Mandy McGlynn, and Izzy Rodriguez and the rest of the USWNT huddle after their July 2025 friendly win over Canada.
The USWNT finished the summer international window with 11 goals, conceding none, across three matches. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

The world No. 1 USWNT ruled the pitch on Wednesday night, shutting out North American rivals No. 8 Canada 3-0 to finish the international window on a high note.

Catching the Canada backline sleeping, US midfielder Sam Coffey opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark before 19-year-old Claire Hutton claimed her first-ever USWNT goal by heading in a Rose Lavelle corner kick in the game's 36th minute.

Houston Dash forward Yazmeen Ryan then padded the US tally in the waning minutes of the match, finding the back of the net just eight minutes after subbing onto the field.

Despite fielding a young roster, the US overpowered a veteran-heavy Canada side in almost every category, topping their Northern neighbors in shots, shots on target, possession, and — most notably — set pieces.

Canada ultimately couldn't match the game's mental pace or physical battle, as the USWNT scored all three goals off dead ball situations — a free kick, a corner kick, and a throw-in.

"It's not about the opponent," US head coach Emma Hayes said after the match. "It's about what we do, and I felt that was extremely dominant."

With Wednesday's contributions, the USWNT finishes the summer window with 11 goals scored across the three friendlies — and zero goals conceded.

The US now enters an extended break before reconvening for another as-yet-unannounced friendly series in October — but players will be expected to perform in the meantime.

"I said to the players in the end in the huddle, if you want to compete to win the biggest things, it's not what you do here that matters," said Hayes. "It's what you do when you go back to your club."

Seattle Storm Looks to Climb the WNBA Standings in Weekend Gauntlet

Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike high-fives teammates as she's introduced before a 2025 WNBA game.
The No. 5 Seattle Storm will face No. 4 Atlanta and No. 3 New York this weekend. (Soobum Im/NBAE via Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA regular season returns on Thursday night, with teams at the top of the league standings looking to prove their mettle against close competition across the long holiday weekend.

The No. 5 Seattle Storm have arguably the toughest weekend assignments, taking on the No. 4 Atlanta Dream on Friday before tackling the No. 3 New York Liberty on Sunday.

Four middle-of-the-pack teams will look to close in on a double-digit season win tally while the league's frontrunners strive to maintain their advantage in this weekend's slate:

  • No. 7 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 8 Indiana Fever, Thursday at 7 PM ET (Prime): Though still without star Caitlin Clark, the Fever hope to harness their 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup victory momentum against an Aces side tied with Indiana with an 8-8 season record.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream, Thursday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Seattle will look to make strides against a strong Atlanta side while putting last Sunday's stinging 84-57 loss to up-and-comer Golden State in their rearview.
  • No. 6 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Saturday at 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The rising Valkyries must face a Lynx side hunting redemption, as the league-leaders look to bounce back from their stifling Tuesday Commissioner's Cup upset loss.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 3 New York Liberty, Sunday at 1 PM ET (CBS): With injured Liberty center Jonquel Jones still sidelined, the Seattle Storm will have a chance to steal a weekend game against the reigning champs, as New York struggles to re-find their footing.

With the 2025 WNBA All-Star break looming, early top performers must keep standards high if they want to hold the line when the season crosses the midway point.

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