by Betsy Shaw posted in Life

A cool thing happened at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. The only mother competing for Team U.S.A. won a gold medal together with her teammate, Jessie Diggins, in the Nordic team sprint competition.

Randall's 22-month-old son, Breck, despite having traveled the world with her for two competition seasons, stayed behind with his grandparents while his mom made her fifth and final attempt at Olympic gold.
Nordic skiers are arguably the fittest athletes in the world. Their sport requires pushing oneself to maximum aerobic and anaerobic limits for mile after mile. We're talking lungs exploding, arms pumping, legs gone to jello, stomach lurching with bile from sheer exertion, yet still pushing ever forward towards the finish line. And, for anyone who doesn't remember, parenting a toddler is also one of the craziest endurance sports imaginable. This all makes me think that Kikkan Randall deserves two gold medals. One for her athletic tenacity and perseverance, and one for sustaining that athletic tenacity and perseverance in the face of parenting a toddler.
Yet, in every interview with Randall I've read, the 35-year-old veteran athlete has described having a baby as an asset, not an impediment, to her athletic success. She credits motherhood with increasing her focus, and putting things into perspective.
Randall talks about how motherhood has helped rather than hindered her career in this NBC video.
"It's really fun to be able to blend...