In 2002, Vonetta Flowers became the first African-American to win a gold medal in a Winter Olympic event, when she served as Jill Bakken's brakewoman in the two-woman bobsled.  Nine months later, she gave birth to twin boys Jaden and Jorden.  (Insert joke/comment here.)  Flowers competed the last two days, this time with driver Jean Prahm, in the same event in Torino.

Flowers hit Italy late last year, not for the Olympics, though.

Her younger twin, Jorden, was born deaf and diagnosed with bilateral atresia, or underdeveloped outer ears.  On Dec. 20, he was fitted with an auditory brainstem implant, a procedure not approved in the U.S.  The only surgeon who performs this procedure on children, Professor Vittorio Coletti, resides in Verona.  Jorden's recovery is going well.  Flowers says that her son is now hearing -- the device was turned on three weeks ago and therapy to teach him to talk will soon follow.

Talk about a supermom!  She cites her boys as her inspiration and the family travels together on the bobsled circuit, amounting to about five months of the year.  Husband Johnny serves as personal trainer for his wife and Prahm.  A recent favorite DVD for the twins is Cool Runnings.

A great majority of readers and bloggers have more understanding of what it takes to be a parent than I do.  My experiences have been vicarious through friends, co-workers and teammates.  Let me tell you, that's been enough to earn my utmost respect and give me a more adult perspective on the challenges that face families.  Given that I witnessed some of those teammates return to a co-ed soccer field after becoming moms, I am further impressed.

So here's to more moms in sports! 

 

Hayley Wickenheiser: Team Canada center/forward won Olympic silver in '98, gold and MVP honors in 2002... and just repeated the last two honors in 2006.  She adopted Noah, the three-month old son of her partner Tomas Pacina, in 2000.  In 2003, Wickenheiser became the first woman to score a goal in a men's professional game.  While she played for that Finland team, she said missing Noah was one of the hardest challenges.  (And if her hockey career weren't enough, she played for Team Canada's softball team in the 2000 Olympics!) 

 

Milaine Theriault: This 32-year-old cross country skier is another third-time Canadian Olympiad in Torino.  She says it took a year after having her son Xavier to regain her fitness.  Many thought she would be unable to return to such a high-performance endurance sport.  Her inspiration was the legion of women with more traditional jobs going back to work after becoming mothers.

 

Leah O'Brien-Amico: This right-fielder, known for her clutch-hitting, played on three U.S. Olympic Gold medal teams, in addition to multiple World and Pan-Am Championship teams.  She became the first mom on Team USA when she gave birth to her son Jake in 2001.  Her second son, Drew, was born in October.

 

Juli Inkster:  This 45-year-old golfer is one of only six women to win a career Grand Slam.  In 2002, she won her second U.S. Open.  She is mother to two daughters: Hayley, 16 and Cori, soon to be 12.  The LPGA website boasts that there are 29 moms currently on tour and one expecting mother.  Between them, they have 43 children.  The tour also provides traveling daycare. 

 

Sheryl Swoopes: The athletic credentials of the "female Michael Jordan" are well-known and too numerous to mention here.  She missed some of the inagural WNBA season due to the birth of her son Jordan (named after Michael), but she says she changed little of her workout routine during pregnancy.  She's been an inspiration to single moms since she and Jordan's dad divorced in 1999.  Stating it had nothing to do with her divorce, last year she publicly announced she is a lesbian.  I'm sure this inspires non-tradtional families. 

Tina Frimpong:  The U.S. National team defender discovered she was pregnant at age 18, just two weeks before she was to leave for pre-season soccer camp at Santa Clara University.  She considered that her career in soccer was over.  However, with a little time to think, she rerouted herself to junior college and then played for University of Washington.  Buzz about her is that she may be the best athlete the U.S. team has seen.  Her daughter, MacKenzie is now almost five and Tina is engaged to be married to MacKenzie's father, Brad Ellerston.

Sheryl O'Loughlin:  Not a well-known athlete, but she is training for a 150-mile bike ride.  Who is she?  The CEO of Clif Bar, Inc.  That company helps make the athletic world go round... How could I not give a shout out to the makers of the Carrot Cake Clif Bar and the Chai Tea Luna Bar?

 

 

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As today also happens to be my birthday, I'd like to acknowledge the people who parented me, which helped make me an athlete!  After all, a "supermom" comes in many forms.

My mom: She came to all my sporting events  AND worked.  Not to mention, she cooked my pre-event meals.  Once I became superstitious, my family ate more linguini than is natural.

My dad: He trained with me, kept me in good humor and after sporting events, bought me milkshakes... NOT the healthy, recovery food version, but he got me the kind I reeeaaally wanted.

My brother: He let me tagalong and made me tough... He might regret those things, along with all the linguini he had to eat!

And if you haven't seen my earlier post... a present to you all.