As Olympians head to Paris, some will have their kids in tow. And while the kiddos of the athletes won’t get to stay in the Olympic Village with their parents, there will be a new space specifically dedicated for families with young children to hang out: the Olympic Village Nursery, equipped with bean bags, toys and books, a changing table, a breastfeeding/pumping area, and, of course, diapers.
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founder of Saysh, advocate for athlete mothers, and the most decorated track and field athlete of all time, with 22 gold Olympic medals alone
Providing this space right in the Olympic Village is a step in the right direction, say Olympians. But as they prepare to go the distance for their countries, accommodations for parents could go even further still.
“I would love to see inside the athlete village maybe one unit that is for family, or access for a mother and a child—a space that your child could actually live within the village with maybe a partner or someone else as well,” Olympic track star and mother-of-two Allyson Felix said at a recent panel with The Lactation Network. “At the Olympics your nerves are already high, and as a mother there’s an added layer there.”
Felix partnered with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and P&G/Pampers to co-launch the nursery. She’s not competing in the Games this year but is on the Athletes Commission of the IOC and has taken it upon herself specifically to advocate for athlete moms.
“I’m excited for athletes to take part in it, use it, and see it filled up with babies,” says Felix.
The IOC says “the response has been positive from the athlete community,” though it isn’t able to share how many athlete families are planning to use the nursery. Some notable athlete parents of toddlers and babies competing in Paris include New Zealand rowers Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors and Dutch table tennis player Britt Eerland.
When it comes to how useful the nursery will actually be, as with lactation rooms, it all comes down to execution. Families will have to sign up for a time to use the room in advance with an online booking system. It accommodates either one family with two children and one caregiver, or two athletes if they are both there with one child.
As for what’s inside, pictures from the IOC shared Wednesday depict a room decorated with a Parisian cityscape, a mini race track, a tricycle, bean bags, and some play structures and stools (previously, the IOC had only shared renderings). There’s also a screened-off lactation area featuring a bench with pillows and a window.
Felix is encouraged by the design as well as its physical placement, right in the main plaza, because that means access to Olympian parents and partners will be easier than it has been in the past.
“The nursery is in the athlete village plaza, which is really important because in the athlete village, credentials are hard to come by,” Felix says. “This is right in a busy area where a lot is going on, and it’s a dedicated space away from all the noise. And you can kind of imagine the comforts of home—it’s decorated in a way that might feel like a room in your home with a dedicated place to breastfeed, equipped with all Pampers products, play areas, and space to get away from it all and spend time with your family.”
Easing that access and providing athletes with support is what the nursery is all about, says the IOC.
“Maintaining good mental health and staying motivated is a large part of being an elite athlete, and family and friends are key to ensuring that athletes have a springboard for success,” says the IOC. “The IOC and IOC Athletes’ Commission want to ensure that pregnancy and motherhood do not mean a career end, in particular for female athletes. The nursery forms part of an ongoing commitment from the IOC and IOC AC to ensure parent athletes are cared for and supported at the Games.”
However, when asked what that “ongoing commitment” looks like, the IOC did not provide further comment. And while Felix relays athlete enthusiasm about the nursery, she says there’s a sentiment that even this step has been a long time coming.
“It’s been a really positive response,” says Felix. “A lot of ‘Why did this take so long? This seems like something that we should have had.’”
One thing missing from the nursery? Well, a “nurse.” Or rather, childcare. The room provides a short-term space for hanging out, which is not exactly a solution for athlete parents wondering what they should do with their kids.
During the Tokyo Olympics, which barred families from attending due to COVID, breastfeeding athletes had to publicly campaign for an exception to be made for their babies—a fight they eventually won. Thanks to athlete advocacy, that policy is being extended (at least in part) by the French Olympic Committee, which is providing hotel rooms to lactating French athlete parents where athlete, baby, and partners can all live during the games.
Athletes from the rest of the world aren’t so lucky. In fact, several of them have utilized GoFundMe campaigns to support bringing children, partners, and parents to Paris along with them, because their sponsorships and other compensation don’t cover that expense.
Inspired by Allyson Felix and Athleta’s childcare grant, created for the Tokyo Olympics, gymnast Shawn Johnson East has launched a childcare fund of $250,000 for Paris-bound Olympians. Johnson East will be going to Paris as a commentator, along with her husband and three children, ages 4, 2, and 6 months.
“What if I was competing this year, and we had our kids? And then it hit me that there are a lot of competing athletes who do have children,” Johnson East told Parents. “And the logistics of that, in my mind, I was like if this is ever some sort of barrier for them to compete, or to feel comfortable, or to feel at all confident in their performance. I would hate that for them.”
Former Olympians paying it forward to future champions is certainly noble, but it is still filling a gap left by the IOC and the Olympic organizations of individual countries. Of course, in America, parents who go to work in an office aren’t universally afforded paid time off or support for childcare, either. But isn’t the Olympics about striving for greatness? That aim should extend to supporting athlete parents, too.
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