‘Motherhood doesn’t have to stop your ambitions’

Georgie credits new maternity support for Olympic athletes for allowing her to continue her rowing career.

“It’s meant that my dreams and my ambitions haven’t had to stop since getting pregnant and having babies. I wouldn’t be able to get back to rowing if I didn’t have it,” she added.

In 2021, UK Sport introduced new pregnancy guidance and support, allowing athletes on its World Class Programmes to continue receiving their full funding during pregnancy and for up to nine months after giving birth.

Paris 2024 was the first Olympic Games where the new support was in place.

Andrew Dagnell, head coach of the British women’s Olympic rowing team, says it is “tremendously exciting” to see Georgie and other mothers accessing this support.

“The reality is, we lose these athletes and we’ve spent a lot of years developing them to the level that they’re at and capable of winning medals, and we want to see them do that for two or three Olympic cycles,” he said.

“We want our mums to be able to continue with their careers in sport and they can’t do it without these programmes.”