Yahoo Sports Sports women having to choose between baby or career - Holland
Many elite female athletes are still having to retire from top-level competition if they want to start a family because they receive a lack of support to return, says triathlete Vicky Holland.
Holland returned to her sport after giving birth to her daughter Emmie in January 2023. The following year she won the European triathlon championship at the age of 38.
The former world champion said she was well-supported by British Triathlon but from conversations with athletes from different sports, believed others were not as fortunate with their governing bodies less progressive.
"I spoke to a lot of women when I came back and who were really interested to see how I'd done it and how I was making it work," said Holland, Team GB's first female triathlete Olympic medallist.
"Some were encouraged but others were saying 'in our circumstances there's no way - if we want to have a family I have to retire'.
"And that feels, in this day and age, like a really brutal decision to have to make. We shouldn't have to choose, but it feels like we still do."
Holland is part of a group of athlete mums which provides a support network for new parents and a space to ask questions and share advice.
It was set up in 2023 by the GB hockey player Jo Pinner with support from the UK Institute for Sport. The group has 17 members from a range of Olympic and Paralympic Sports.
"The differences from sport to sport is quite interesting," said Holland.
"Some elite sport policies aren't up to scratch."
It is an issue Holland is passionate about.
"Why are we, in 2025, still penalising women for having a family?", the Rio 2016 bronze medallist questioned.
"Surely you want to be a leader in this field rather than being the last one on the bus and showing yourselves to being stuck in the past."
In 2023 UK Sport introduced enhanced guidance so that pregnant athletes could depend on increased and improved support as well as advice on fertility, diet and breastfeeding.
However, UK Sport has admitted a need for the guidance to put into practice across Olympic and Paralympic sports.
"UK Sport strongly believes that raising a family and being an elite athlete should not be mutually exclusive," the statement said.
"We are therefore committed to continuing to engage with athletes and sports to make sure the guidance is implemented as robustly and comprehensively as possible."
Holland had to climb back to the top of the triathlon standings after having her baby as her ranking was not protected.
She went from being ranked in the world's top 15 to outside the top 200, with only the top 55 gaining automatic entry into a race.
"It took me a long time and a lot of racing just to try and scrape together some points and then build up my ranking," she said.
"It's almost like you've worked your whole career up to being a manager in a store and then you come back from pregnancy and you're back on basic pay and you're back down doing the checkout. You've got to work your way up again."
World Triathlon has since brought in a policy for elite athletes, where women are able to freeze their rankings from the moment they announce their pregnancy, until their child is two years old.
British Triathlon also has a new pregnancy deferral policy for up to two years for those in their age-group teams. These are non-professional triathletes who can compete for Great Britain at age groups between under 19 and up to 80.
Holland, who sits on the board of British Triathlon as an athlete representative has welcomed this move.
"It means they can come back in their own time and still go to that event that they qualified themselves for," Holland said.
"And that's really important.
"Women should not be expected to give up their goals or ambitions in order to have a family."
