The World Cup on the 7th of December 2024 was extra special for the athlete who has been racing in the bobsleds for 23 years. The three-time Olympian, who was making her return to the snow after giving birth to her son 6 months ago, finished seventh in the monobob on Saturday and fifth in a two-woman race on Sunday. But it hasn’t been easy for the mother.
In the recent video posted by the Olympics on their YouTube, Kaillie Humphries drew parallels to her motherhood from an Olympics athlete’s journey and said, “I think an athlete’s Olympic journey very, very closely mimics a person’s IVF journey as well, where you’re chasing this end goal of becoming a mom or becoming a parent without the realization of, you know, it may or may not ever happen.”
The statements, when you realize that the 39-year-old’s journey to becoming a mother was not easy. “We had to go through IVF. I’ve got stage four endometriosis.” She told. Now, for those of us who don’t know, endometriosis is a chronic condition where tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside of the uterus, which can lead to infertility or many pregnancy issues.
The 39-year-old did become a mother and it was not easy. “This entire journey has been the hardest thing I have done in my whole life, but also the most rewarding and makes me the happiest I’ve ever been,” Humphries posted in her birth announcement, fulfilling her dream. She further said in the video, “I’ve always wanted to be a mom and that was always my goal and so I was willing to risk everything (5:23) sport-wise and I still am, you know. ” Now that the dream is fulfilled, the athlete is coming back to snow and that too is even stronger.
Kaillie Humphries, the mother, is stronger
Kaillie Humphries gave birth to her son Aulden on June 14, 2024, and ever since then she has been in training to get back on the snow and now that she is back, she is back stronger than ever and that too not just physically but mentally as well.
Talking in the interview, she opened up about her mom bod, citing, ” I’m working on my second body, my whole new mom bod and coming back, and it’s a very different body and I think my mind is the same and so I think mom brain, mom bod is the way through.” This mom body and brain have only strengthened the athlete, as she says, “What that means in sport but I do feel that there’s a whole other level that I could have never gotten to had I not been a mom and I think, you know, mom level is a whole new level.”
“I do feel stronger; I feel more confident; I feel a lot more empowered as a female athlete.” These are the words of the athlete who is coming for the gold in Milano-Cortina 2026. But before that, the athlete is going to be tested in the IBSF Bobsled & Skeleton World Championships in Lake Placid, New York, from 5 March.
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