Women Who Came Back From Pregnancy to Dominate Track & Field

In January 2026, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone announced that she is pregnant and expecting her first child. This has led to both celebration, as well as questions on if she could make a successful return to the track, especially ahead of the 2028 Olympics.Though pregnancy has sometimes been seen as the end of an athlete's career, the history of elite women in Track & Field tells a very different story. We'll look back a few women throughout history, from Allyson Felix and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, to Gwen Torrence and Wilma Rudolph, who stepped away from competition to start families, but returned to win Olympic and World championship medals.-------------------------------------------Chapters:00:00 Intro01:12 Women Returning From Pregnancy03:22 Allyson Felix05:18 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce08:17 Nia Ali10:33 Lashinda Demus12:19 Yordonka Donkova13:24 Gwen Torrence14:53 Valarie Brisco-Hooks16:56 Irena Szewinska18:58 Wilma Rudolph20:41 Fanny Blankers-Koen22:43 Summary⁠-------------------------------------------📱Twitter: https://x.com/EmeroleAnderson🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFinalLeg📱Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/atkoeme/🎧⁠Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts⁠-------------------------------------------