For the first time, the Olympic Village will have a nursery, allowing athletes to spend more convenient time with their babies and young children between the rigors of competition and training. The French Olympic and Sports Committee has also pledged to provide hotel rooms for breastfeeding French athletes as part of a package of measures to increase “childcare” space during the Olympics.
Olympic organizers say the measures are necessary to boost female participation in sports and keep up with the times.
“Society is changing and this suits the needs of our athletes,” Astrid Geillard, secretary general of the French Olympic and Sports Committee, told French newspaper Le Monde.
American track and field athlete Allyson Felix, who will win 11 Olympic medals before retiring in 2022, told CBS that opening a childcare center in a non-residential area of the Olympic Village represents a “culture shift” around female athletes.
“I think this really sends a message to women that you can choose to be a mother and still be at the top of your sport and not have to slow down,” said Felix, who is a member of the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission.
Certainly, athlete moms, and female athletes in general, At the highest levels of sports, athletes still face obstacles, including unequal pay and low visibility. And change has been slow. Ahead of the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, the International Olympic Committee banned athletes from bringing their families, including those who were breastfeeding, because of pandemic restrictions, but then reversed the policy and banned athletes' families from accompanying them to sports fields. “The unique situation faced by athletes with breastfeeding children” Following protests by female athletes.
Individual athletes have led a campaign to secure accommodations for themselves and their families at the 2024 Olympics. — through the media and directly to political leaders. In January, Olympic medalist and judoka Clarice Agbenu (31) took French President Emmanuel Macron aside when he visited the French judo team and told him, “I want to bring my daughter to the Olympic Village so that she can give her all until the very end of the Olympics, feeling comfortable.”
“I tried to give advice so that we can get better… at least I think and hope it was listened to,” Agbegnenowe told RMC Sport, adding that further changes were needed regarding “health and family issues”.
In recent years, well-known athletes such as Felix, soccer player Alex Morgan and retired American tennis player Serena Williams have argued that women's sports are not always the same. They are equally valued, compensated and promoted in the media and at major sporting events.
Children and families are not normally allowed in the Olympic Village, which French Olympic organisers said “must remain a protected space where only athletes and staff can perform”.
This year, under new guidelines from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, a nursery will be set up in a non-residential area of the Olympic Village square and will be open every day from 9am to 9pm for parents and “dedicated guardians” of infants and young children, Paris 2024 organisers said.
France has gone even further, and for the first time this year, their players The French Olympic and Sports Committee has set up dedicated breastfeeding spaces in hotels near the Olympic Village and urged athletes to stay there if they want to remain with their children.
French athletes with children, regardless of age, will have access to shared spaces to spend time together during the day. Also, for the duration of the Paralympics, athletes with babies under one year old will receive a “guest pass” that allows them to bring their babies into the Olympic Village twice a day to be breastfed. The same rules apply to athletes with children under three who have special needs or disabilities.
“What the French Olympic Committee is doing for breastfeeding and parent-athletes is really great,” Canadian basketball player Kim Gauchet, who lobbied the IOC to reverse its policy on breastfeeding at the Tokyo Olympics, said in a post shared by the Canadian Olympic Committee. “This is what we want to make the norm.”
Felix has partnered with Pampers to provide athletes with “high-quality diapers and wipes, while also providing space for playtime and family bonding” at childcare facilities in the Paris 2024 Olympic Village.
“After my daughter was born I realized how hard it is to compete at the highest level. Some things have been really tough,” Felix told CBS.
