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American athlete Elle St. Pierre recently clinched her first-ever gold medal at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships. The 29-year-old’s happiness doubled after she recalled becoming a mother to her son Ivan a year ago on March 4, 2023.
On Saturday, March 2, St. Pierre ran an impressive 8 minutes and 20.87 seconds to win the gold medal at the world championship. She smashed the previously existing American record of 8 minutes and 25.05 seconds set by Alicia Monson in 2023. It also pushed the Vermont native to number three on the all-time world indoor list.
Nevertheless, St.Pierre outperformed two-time world champion Gudaf Tsegay to achieve the feat at Glasgow. The Ethiopian athlete clocked 8 minutes and 21.13 seconds to win the silver medal. Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya bagged the bronze medal with 8 minutes and 24.39 seconds.
In the aftermath of the 3000m race, St. Pierre expressed her joy to World Athletics, saying:
“This is amazing.”
She also spoke about the beginning of her motherhood.
“It's all I ever dreamed of. It’s been a big year for me. It’s really emotional to think of, but a year ago my son was born; to be here as a world champion, I can't imagine it. I feel like a new person, a new athlete. I can't wait to see him after this,” Elle St.Pierre stated.
The American athlete expressed that it was “exciting to break the championship record.” Elle St.Pierre was worried about the pace of the race being too high but she decided to “not to think too much about it and just go for it.”
The athlete also spoke about competing against a strong lineup of athletes,
“I definitely didn't know I had the gold till the finish, the last 10 metres. Then wow! Having a baby just a year ago (this month), it feels like I have gone full circle to be back. I have felt in the groove in the racing I have been doing and I really wanted to be in the mix today,” she explained.
Elle St. Pierre’s motherhood journey
American athlete Elle St. Pierre was able to run throughout most of her pregnancy. In fact, she was eight weeks pregnant when she competed at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
However, after making it to the 1500m semifinals, the athlete called it a season. She announced her pregnancy in September 2022 and continued embracing her motherhood journey.
In an interview with Fast Women in 2023, she expressed that she was in intense labor in the days following her delivery. The 2022 World Indoor silver medalist in 3000m, shared that the labor pain was far different from the pain incurred through injuries as an athlete.
“I feel like I’m pretty tough, and I have pretty high pain tolerance, but it was just so different. I’ve heard people compare it to racing, and I just couldn’t disagree more,” Elle St. Pierre said.
After delivering her son, Elle St. Pierre returned to easy running within three weeks of postpartum. She eventually made her comeback at 5th Avenue Mile where she grabbed the seventh-place finish within 4:23.30.
