A British Olympic cyclist was pregnant when she won a silver medal in Tokyo.
Elinor Barker, 27, is expecting her first child after helping our women’s team pursuit squad to glory in August.
Barker said she and her partner were “so excited to start the next part of our lives together”.
She joked in a social media post: “And for the eagle eyed among you who have done the maths...yep, I was pregnant at the Tokyo Olympics.”
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She added: “Casper and I are so happy to announce that we’re expecting our first child!
“We really can’t believe how lucky we are.”
Cardiff-born Elinor paid tribute to fellow cyclists Lizzie Deignan, 32, Laura Kenny, 29, and Dame Sarah Storey, 43, who had combined their careers with motherhood.
She added: “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 told how she suffered from endometriosis in 2019, a condition that can cause pain, heavy periods and fatigue.
The condition affects around one in 10 women of reproductive age and can also make it more difficult to conceive.
In April, she was in training on the roads of Manchester when a car drove straight into her at a roundabout.
It failed to stop and left Elinor stricken by the roadside. Despite reporting the incident to police, the driver was not traced.
Elinor, who won team pursuit gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, admitted that she could easily have missed out on Tokyo after five hard years of training and sacrifice.
“Oh my God. I was unbelievably lucky, no doubt about that,” she said. “I would say to car drivers just to have a bit of patience, imagine it is someone you love who is holding you up for 10 or 20 seconds.”
American tennis great Serena Williams was about two months pregnant when she won her 23rd Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in 2017.
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