Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter; it’s the Olympic motto, and nothing rings more true in 2024 for women in sport, including Alyce Wood (31) and Keesja Gofers (34).

These women have both attended the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but that’s not the only thing they have in common. Each are mums who are preparing to compete at Paris 2024, with Alyce and Keesja selected to the Paris 2024 Australian Olympic Team in canoe sprint and water polo respectively. They possess a superpower that has them in career-best form, one that had to be hidden or sacrificed by many before them but is now celebrated rather than silenced or shamed.

But how can an Olympic-level athlete fit conception, pregnancy and giving birth in between two Olympic Games? Alyce and Keesja have revealed how they’ve done it and how they’re feeling with less than three months to go.

They are a testament that mums really are experts in reactive time management and the many adaptive pathways to success.

Both women became mums for the first time during the three short years between the Tokyo Games and Paris Olympic trials.

“Returning to elite sport didn’t impact [my] decision at all,” Keesja said, who, together with her partner, did a lot of research during post-Tokyo quarantine into the practical timeline for their baby to be born that would still allow for a return to training, chasing her goal of qualifying for Paris.

She also pays tribute to the trailblazers in her sport who inspired her to give it all a go; Bronwyn Smith and Lea Yanitsas who were also both dual Olympian mums.

“The very latest our baby could be born was April 2023. This would give me a fighting chance at getting physically back to sport at the top level, with enough competition and training under my belt,” she said. 

“Once this window passed, we’d have a tough decision to make to keep trying for a baby and forgo the Paris Olympic dream or put off having a baby and continue training. I don’t know what we would have chosen,” she admitted.

Baby Teleri was born on 21 March 2023 with a comfortable 10 days to spare.

Once Tokyo was done and dusted, Alyce also decided it was time to follow her desire to become a mother.

“I wanted it more than anything in the world, but I knew I wasn’t ready to retire from sport,” she said.

Alyce also had someone close to home to light the way for her.

Mother-in-law and coach Anna gave birth to her husband Jordan in 1994. Within two years, Anna built her family and fitness and won a Bronze Medal at the Atlanta Games.

Alyce said Anna’s story proved it possible for her. Anna was someone who showed the strength and success possible after starting a family. Alyce was so inspired by her role model that she is now an advocate for future mum-athletes.

“Over the last two years, I’ve had many epiphany moments [after the birth of baby Florence], all of which I hope can help inspire and educate the broader sporting community,” she said.

But it wasn’t just one person who made it possible for each of these mums.

It takes a village.

Behind any great success story is a tribe of believers and supporters. In 2024, the tribe available to athletes is remarkable and forthcoming in supporting women to have children.

“Alongside Anna, I have had a team who were incredibly invested in my journey right from the start,” Alyce said.

“My coach Rene Olsen, physiologist Nicola Bullock, gym coach Kieran Young, physiotherapist Kate O’Connell, as well as a huge list of subject matter experts throughout the pregnancy and postpartum periods, that helped in any way they could.”

She also utilised the Australian Institute of Sport’s Female Performance and Health Initiative and worked with Central Queensland University’s Melanie Hayman, who led the development of the 2020 Australian Exercise During Pregnancy Guidelines.

These guidelines represented a monumental shift from the old operations.

Keesja, too, shares the team mentality.

“I have the most amazing support system around me. My husband Scott, Teleri’s grandparents and others who do the most amazing job and love her so much. My mum Arlene comes to training, games and on tour,” she said.

Keesja also brought in all the external specialists she could, including working closely with the NSW Institute of Sport to safeguard her pregnancy and postpartum training.

“Even before I fell pregnant, I sought the help of medical professionals. Specialists in women’s health, physiotherapists, nutritionists, doctors, coaches, the list goes on,” she said.

No one is in control.

All three admit the most challenging part of the journey was not the physicality of pregnancy but the lack of consistency and control over the changing body and mind.

“For me, pregnancy lacked any essence of control,” Keesja said, who recalled the many unknowns of parenthood and the rollercoaster of emotions, heightened by a lack of sleep and the logistics of babysitting, all become very real when trying to also ‘bounce back’ into Olympic selection mode.

”As athletes, we are taught to ‘control the controllable’ whether training, rehab, diet or recovery. When we did fall pregnant earlier, sadly, it ended in miscarriage at 14 weeks. It was an overwhelming, inconsistent heartbreak and a reminder that I had no control,” she said.

When Alyce fell pregnant, she said the rate of change she saw in her body, training program, and life outweighed anything she’d ever experienced, and she admitted that it became overwhelming at times. 

“While dealing with this change in the performance space, I was also trying to balance the expectations of being a new mum and an athlete,” she said.

As well as the social pressures, including being present in every moment, she was on a strict timeline in the lead-up to Paris selection, which required a degree of selfishness.

“The guilt pulling me both ways has been real, but it’s also taught me how to prioritise my time and energy,” she said.

For Alyce, becoming a mum and preparing for another Olympic Games has seen her and her team have the highest functioning levels of multi-tasking and goal-setting.

“We’ve created a routine that allows me to spread my time well while also understanding that babies are experts at throwing the best-made plans out the window,” she said.

“Operating under the premise that there are many pathways to success, we’ve become experts at redesigning a training week and repositioning Florence-sitting duties while keeping the overarching performance goal at the forefront.”

A leap forward, not a bounce back.

“My whole support team and I agree that being a mum has made me a better athlete, and being an athlete has made me a better mum,” Alyce said, proudly.

“Almost one year after my first race back, I am in my career-best form,” who recently helped the Australian Sprint Canoe team qualify for a place in Paris with her results at the World Championships.

“For many years, motherhood meant the end of your athletic career. It meant that your fastest days were behind you, but that couldn’t be further from the truth for me,” Alyce said.

“So many people have said that I ‘bounced back’, but I strongly disagree. My body and perspective will never be the same, and I embrace that.” 

But don’t be remiss in thinking that for these women, it has not been without its challenges. 

“I may not have slept well, I may not have eaten everything I needed to be at my best, but I’m still going to show up and work towards our team’s goal of an Olympic Medal,” Keesja said.

“During a hard swim set or a tough game, I think about my baby; my daughter is my engine, fuelling me to be the best athlete and mum.

“My comeback has had its ups and downs (and backward somersaults!), but I wouldn’t have it any other way but with my baby by my side.

“As a kid my mum taught me that mums are superhuman and can do whatever they set their mind to, or at least give it a red hot go! I hope Teleri feels the same one day,” she said.

“Almost one year after my first race back, I am in my career-best form,” Alyce said, who recently helped the Australian Sprint Canoe team qualify for a place in Paris with her results at the World Championships.

“For many years, motherhood meant the end of your athletic career. It meant that your fastest days were behind you, but that couldn’t be further from the truth for me,” Alyce said.

“So many people have said that I ‘bounced back’, but I strongly disagree. My body and perspective will never be the same, and I embrace that.”

Sally Mac