“Supermothers” Amalie Iuel and Therese Johaug have one common advantage after giving birth – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule

Therese Johaug came back really strong less than a year after giving birth and crushed the Norwegian elite by nearly three minutes in the three-mile race at the National Championships.

Amalie Iuel was only 21 hundredths behind her personal record in the 400 meter hurdles, shortly after her birth.

– It has been seven and a half months since I gave birth. It is quite sick to see how the female body is capable of doing this, said Iuel to NRK after the comeback in Kenya in April.

The “supermothers” in the world of top sports are becoming more and more numerous every year.

These are some of the women who have performed shortly after giving birth:

Kari Bø, a professor at Norway’s Sports Academy who previously also led a major study on what happens to top athletes after giving birth, is not surprised.

– That it is possible to do it, I really support, says Bø about the sports mothers.

The benefits

The renowned study, which has been published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, among other things, points to several advantages:

– The female body is fantastic. It heals itself and not least after a birth, it’s amazing what we can endure afterwardssays Bø.

Among others, Therese Johaug has experienced these favorable benefits after she returned to the top of the podium in the NM.

– There is something about the female body when it has become pregnant. You can float on it a bit afterwards. I am surprised, considering how I have been training, that my form is so good, says Johaug to NRK.

A comparison that several researchers draw when talking about benefits after pregnancy: If you carry a twelve-kilogram rucksack for over nine months, the body suddenly becomes lighter when the rucksack is removed overnight.

The body gets used to carrying heavier loads. This leads to you becoming stronger, your heart is hardened and, not least, you get more blood in your body.

This effect is highest 6 to 12 weeks after birth. After this, the benefits decrease over time, according to the study Bø has led.

– As long as you have a normal pregnancy and a normal birth, and as long as you have a kind child afterwards, I wouldn’t say that it is difficult to come back, says Marit Bjørgen to NRK.

Must be “lucky” with both pregnancy and birth

However, what most people are quick to point out is that an important premise for a quick return is a relatively painless pregnancy without complications or injuries.

The same applies to childbirth, as a full 30 per cent of women who give birth experience, among other things, problems with the pelvic floor.

Iuel has previously opened up about the fact that she had a pelvic discharge during her pregnancy. The birth of his son Storm ended with an emergency caesarean section.

– It is an obstacle and has set me back considerably, but I may have had a slightly different focus, says the 30-year-old, who therefore ran one of the best races of his career in Kenya, some seven months after giving birth.

Iuel boast from the Winter Olympians of all time

Someone who has been through a birth, in the same way as Johaug and Iuel, is Winter Olympian of all time Marit Bjørgen.

She gave birth to her son Marius in December 2015 and returned to the World Cup with a victory already in November 2016. The 44-year-old pays tribute to Iuel’s return to the top of the world:

– Amalie’s comeback I would say is very impressive, says Bjørgen.

Cross-country skiing compared to Iuel’s distance 400 meter hurdles are two completely different worlds, we are to believe Bjørgen. Where skiers go longer distances and have a more gentle sport, explosiveness and strength play a more important part in Iuel’s branch, believes Bjørgen.

– I never got back to my same high level of sprinting after giving birth. I felt I lost a lot of strength and some explosiveness, says Bjørgen.

Iuel admits that she has experienced the same.

– There are many areas in which I am worse now than before. I see that the speed has slowed down a bit. I have had to compensate with perseverance and stayssays Iuel.

– The focus is rather on the smallest man

When the physiological benefits diminish over time, another benefit comes into play. It is the child itself, according to the sports mothers NRK has spoken to.

– When I get home after a day of training, it’s suddenly not me who goes first in the queue anymore. The focus is rather on the smallest person who needs one or the other, says Iuel and continues:

– For my part, it has been a bit nice that I don’t take sports home with me and think about it all the time. It has been a way to relax and shift the focus to something else, too, says Iuel.

This mental flexibility, believes Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen, professor at Norway’s Sports Academy, to be at least as important as the physical advantage.

– JI have even more faith in the mental. When they have finished giving birth and have been lucky enough to have a healthy child, they can do what they have planned if they also have the resources to get the restitution they need, says Sundgot-Borgen, before she votes in:

– They are some kind of supermothers.