An Olympic silver medalist from Great Britain reportedly didn't know she was already pregnant with her first child when she competed and won the medal in Tokyo last early August.
Life News said Britain's track cyclist Elinor Barker is "proof" that abortion need not be undertaken by female athletes should they discover they are pregnant while preparing for a major competition to achieve success.
Female athletes are often faced with the decision to abort their pregnancy for their career. Some of those who admitted they did include Christian Olympic hurdler Brianna McNeal and Sanya Richards-Ross. Both admitted being "traumatized" and needed "healing" after having the abortion.
As such, The Denver Channel highlighted that Barker revealed she would have probably done differently had she discovered being pregnant years ago.
Barker announced on October 6 through her Instagram account that she and her husband, Casper, are "expecting" their first child. The five-time world champion cyclist expressed her amazement that she and her husband will be beginning a new chapter in their lives.
"Casper and I are so happy to announce that we're expecting our first child! We really can't believe how lucky we are and are so excited for the next part of our lives to begin," Barker said.
Barker disclosed that her friendship with other women athletes who are already parents have enabled her to perceive that there is a future in her career despite being pregnant. She thanked her friends for letting her be aware of this along with her team for their support of her.
"Because of these women (and many more) I didn't doubt the future of my career for one second. I'd always been in awe of what they've each achieved since becoming parents, but only recently have I fully understood the full power of what each of them has done," Barker disclosed.
"I'm fully aware that I'd be in a totally different situation if this had happened just a few years ago, and I'm so grateful for the difference that visibility for athlete mothers has made," she added.
In a succeeding post, she revealed that she was indeed pregnant while she competed in the recent Olympics. She shared a series of pictures that conveyed her own journey of discovery, which began being clueless during training until being aware of her pregnancy after receiving the medal.
The first five photos in a set of six that was uploaded in the said Instagram post showed Barker in the pinkish-red and white cycling uniform of their British team slim and doing some rounds in the Olympic grounds. The last photo showed her with four other women from her team wearing white tops and blue shorts as they donned the Olympic medal around their neck. According to Barker, this last photo was when she already had the pregnancy test with her.
"And for the eagle eyed among you who have done the maths...yep, I was pregnant at the Tokyo Olympics! Barker declared.
"Here's a selection of pictures from training and racing over the summer. Some from before I had any idea at all, some before I knew for sure, until finally in the last picture I had the positive pregnancy test in my pocket," she shared.
On the day she won, Barker highlighted how things did not turn out into the "fairytale" she had "dreamed of" it to be. She nonetheless expressed pride for what she accomplished after taking "some time to reflect" on it. She also thanked the people who helped her in her journey and the people behind making "the games happen in the first place!"
