How the 2024 Olympics are catering to mom athletes for the very first time
Thanks to the advocacy of trailblazing mom athletes like Allyson Felix, juggling motherhood and competition is getting easier.

Allyson Felix advocated for a nursery to be added to the Olympic village.
For much of Olympic history, women were excluded from competing. Women weren't allowed to compete in the Ancient Olympic games at all, and the first women to compete in the modern Olympics in 1900 only made up 2% of the total athletes.
That percentage has slowly increased in the decades since. The 2012 Olympics were the first games to have women competing in every sport, and the 2024 Paris games—for the first time in Olympic history—has a 50/50 ratio of male and female athletes.
That gender parity makes a difference, not only for athletic opportunity but for how the games themselves are managed. More women competing means more mothers with babies competing, and thanks to some key advocates with experience in that area, the Olympic Committee has made two big moves at the Paris games to support those athletes.
Take breastfeeding, for example. If an elite athlete is breastfeeding a baby, there are all kinds of logistics that can make competing at the Olympics a challenge. But with proper support, it doesn't have to prohibit them from competing in top form.
One way the Olympic organizers are making competition more doable for moms is by offering breastfeeding athletes and their families hotel rooms near the Olympic village. Children have always been banned from the Olympic village with very few exceptions, and the dorm-type rooms with single, twin-sized beds are not exactly conducive to breastfeeding families' needs anyway.
According to La Leche League International, breastfeeding athletes can thank fellow Olympian Clarisse Agbegnenou for the the hotel accommodations, The French Judo champion who became a mother in June of 2022 advocated for the accommodations, saying, "To put things in perspective, I've decided to breastfeed my daughter until she's weaned. She hasn't yet, so I'm following her. I've made sure that I feel good physically, because of course there's an element of tiredness. But as a mother who needs to be very present for my daughter, I asked for the opportunity to have her with me during the Olympics."
Agbegnenou nursed her baby, Athena, while training for—and subsequently winning—her sixth world championship title. Clearly breastfeeding itself isn't holding her back in her sport, but not having proper accommodations would make competing in the Olympics unnecessarily harder.
French Olympic Committee secretary general Astrid Guyart told reporters of the hotel accommodations, "It's unprecedented and it's something we want to make permanent, so it's not a one-off because it's the Olympics in Paris."
Thanks to the advocacy of another Olympian mom Allyson Felix—who also happens to be the most decorated track athlete in history—the Paris Olympics also has its first nursery. Felix, who is now retired from competition, approached the International Olympic Committee and her partner Pampers about supporting athletes who are competing while parenting babies and young children.
“I just knew how difficult it was to compete at the top level after I had my daughter, and some practical things were really hard,” Felix told CBS Mornings. “And so when I became on the athletes Commission of the IOC I really wanted to be that voice for athlete moms and just take away one less thing for them to worry about in the pressure of competition.”
The nursery, supported by Procter & Gamble, sits in the heart of the Olympic village and includes a space to breastfeed, a play area and access to Pampers products. Felix said it gives parent athletes a place to step away from the noise and have some private time with their children.
Check out one Olympic family making use of the nursery:
@thewroster How is this the first time they thought of this 🥹😅 #olympics #momlife #australia #oioioi 📲 Keesja Gofers
In the past, athletes were often made to feel that becoming a mother meant the end of their sports career, but Felix pointed out that that was just a narrative that was being placed on them. Accommodations like the nursery for athletes marks a new chapter in a new narrative.
“I think it really tells women that you can choose motherhood and also be at the top of your game and not have to miss a beat,” said Felix, adding, “It's really a starting out place. I would love to grow this even more.”
Here's to the athletes blazing the trail for themselves and those who've come after them to ensure that moms don't have to make false choices between motherhood and being at the top of their sport.
- Elite athletes face unnecessary roadblocks when they get pregnant. Time for that to change. ›
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- Mom points out an unspoken, 'unfair' part of having kids who play travel ball ›
- Mom attempts impossible Olympic gymnastics routine in her kitchen - Upworthy ›
- Olympic breakdancer Raygun threatens to sue comedian for parody musical - Upworthy ›
- A mom was told her daughter was too girly to play sports so she planned epic photoshoot - Upworthy ›
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.