I was given a real insight into how life has changed for Olympic mothers when I did a joint interview with Denise Lewis a few months ago. Denise was an extraordinary competitor who won gold in the heptathlon at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, at a time when little was expected of British athletes. But, 24 years later, she explained how horrendously she had been treated as a mum.
Denise described it as “a very lonely experience” because, after giving birth in 2002 to her daughter, Lauryn, she was told that her coaches and other support staff would talk to her only once she was back on “the performance pathway”. She was isolated and felt like “a performing animal with no heart and soul”.
