What Pregnant Athletes Can Achieve

She told me recently that she ran a ten-miler the day before her daughter was born. “There were definitely people who gave me second glances at the gym,” Brown said. “They said, ‘Are you sure you should do that?’ ” She continued, “I was amazed how during my pregnancy my body knew what to do. I kept thinking how women are strong, how we’re built to be able to have kids, but also be built to do so much more. It’s not that long ago that people thought a woman’s uterus would fall out if she ran too far.”

.. he’s heard stories of athletes in former Soviet countries who, during the Cold War heyday of sports, would intentionally get pregnant, hoping to capitalize on an increased count of red blood cells, and then abort the pregnancies after competing. “It was almost like a natural blood doping,”

A Letter from the Harvard Women’s Soccer Team

We feel hopeless because men who are supposed to be our brothers degrade us like this.

.. This document attempts to pit us against one another, as if the judgment of a few men is sufficient to determine our worth.

.. This document might have stung any other group of women you chose to target, but not us. We know as teammates that we rise to the occasion, that we are stronger together, and that we will not tolerate anything less than respect for women that we care for more than ourselves.

.. To the men of Harvard soccer and to the men of the world, we invite you to join us, because ultimately we are all members of the same team. We are human beings and we should be treated with dignity. We want your help in combatting this. We need your help in preventing this. We cannot change the past, but we are asking you to help us now and in the future.

.. “I can offer you my forgiveness, which is—and forever will be—the only part of me that you can ever claim as yours.”