Nia Ali poses for a photo with her children at the IAAF World Athletics Championships on Oct. 6, 2019 in Doha, Qatar.
Mother’s Day is the day to take some time to show moms how much they’re appreciated. For the athletes of Team USA, moms have played countless roles in their journeys to the Olympic or Paralympic Games, whether that’s as a ride to practice, a coach, a trainer, a cheering section or simply a shoulder to cry on. Moms can do it all, as evidenced by the current mothers of Team USA who expertly balance their careers with motherhood.
In honor of Mother’s Day, here’s a few of the supermoms to Team USA athletes as well as some currently wearing the red, white and blue.
McKenzie Coan with her mom, Teresa, and the rest of the family at the Paralympic Games Rio 2016.
Nia Ali
Working parents sometimes struggle to find enough time to spend with their kids. Hurdler Nia Ali has been lucky enough to bring hers with. After Nia won the silver medal in 110-meter hurdles at the Olympic Games Rio 2016, her 15-month-old son Titus was there to celebrate and pose for photos. Ali has since gone on to win a world championship in 100-meter hurdles in 2019, by which time she’d given birth to daughter Yuri. She celebrated with both kids on the track in Doha.
Kristin Armstrong
Armstrong was on top of the cycling world following the 2008 Beijing Games, at which she had won the gold medal in women’s time trial, the first Olympic gold medal in cycling for a U.S. woman since 1984. In 2009, she announced she was taking time off from the sport to start a family, but left the door open to return to racing. After giving birth to her son Lucas in September 2010, she decided to make a run at London and picked up where she left off with another gold medal. By the time she won a third in a row in 2016, Lucas was there at the finish line.
McKenzie Coan
With a swim coach for a mom, there was maybe no wonder Paralympic gold medalist McKenzie Coan would find her way into the pool. Teresa Coan helped get her daughter started swimming when she was 5 or 6, then was there to support her as she made it her dream to make the Paralympic Games. Teresa in fact raised a whole household of swimmers, with McKenzie’s brother Eli swimming for North Carolina and qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Erin Hamlin and her mom, Eileen.
Erin Hamlin
Any parent enjoys cheering for their son or daughter in whatever it is they do; luger Erin Hamlin’s mom has cheers for everyone else, too. Eileen Hamlin helped run a “Luge Moms” Twitter account during the PyeongChang Games along with the moms of lugers Chris Mazdzer and Emily Sweeney. Now retired from the sport, Erin Hamlin recently became a luge mom herself with the birth of her son Harrison in December.
Desmond Jackson
Deborah Jackson knew that out of all the sports he tried, Desmond liked track and field the best. But he’d need a prosthetic running blade costing several thousand dollars, in addition to coaching and physical therapy. When she wasn’t at work, Deborah spent time filling out grant applications, taking Desmond to practice and never taking no for an answer when helping her son reach his dream, the Paralympic Games.
Noah Lyles
In a letter to his mom in 2019, sprinter Noah Lyles recalled he and his brother Josephus telling her that their dream was to make the Olympic Games. Keisha knew she had to do some research. She figured out the next steps, helping get Noah and Josephus onto U.S. teams, learning what the road to the Games would be like. By 2019, Noah was a world champion.
Michael Phelps celebrates with his mother Deborah Phelps at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 on Aug. 9, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Tatyana McFadden
Since adopting 6-year-old Tatyana from a Russian orphanage, Deborah McFadden has been there for her daughter every step of the way as her “momager.” Told her daughter’s spina bifida may limit the length of her life, Deborah resolved to get Tatyana active and strong, later discovering that wheelchair racing was her calling. When Tatyana wanted to race along her able-bodied high school teammates, she and Deborah sued the district and won the right to race.
Michael Phelps
Debbie Phelps never planned on raising the most decorated Olympian of all time. She just wanted her son and his two sisters to learn how to swim. Michael Phelps fell in love with the sport and the rest is history. Debbie raised Phelps and his two sisters for much of his childhood as a single parent following a divorce from Phelps’ father. Phelps would credit her with giving him a sense of hard work and dedication that he used to win 23 Olympic gold medals.
Adam Rippon
The Olympic medalist describes his mom Kelly as nothing less than his “hero.” Kelly once refinanced her house so that Adam could continue his skating career, among numerous other means of support, not just for Adam but his five siblings as well. As Adam won the team bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, Kelly was there to support him there too.
Elana Meyers Taylor and her son, Nico.
Elana Meyers Taylor
Meyers Taylor endured a difficult pregnancy to give birth to her son Nico in February 2020. She and husband Nic Taylor, also a bobsledder, would learn days later that Nico had Down syndrome, and the couple quickly had to get up to speed on how to support and care for their son. The Taylors are also involved in raising awareness for Down syndrome and assisting other parents. Nico is doing well, and Elana is back training for Beijing with one goal in mind: drape some Olympic medals around her son’s neck.
Lora Webster
Webster has a simple motto: “Do what you need to do to be happy and live the life you want.” For the U.S. sitting volleyball team blocker, that means not choosing between raising three kids or winning four Paralympic medals (and she’s not done yet), but doing both. A stay at home mom when not on the court, Webster has had to juggle training, competing, and motherhood for roughly half of her Paralympic career.
Jamie Whitmore
Upon diagnosing her with cancer in 2008, doctors told cyclist Jamie Whitmore that she may never be able to ride anything but a stationary bike again. They also told her the radiation treatments may mean she could never have children. But in 2010, Whitmore gave birth to twin boys Christian and Ryder. And by 2013, she was back on her bike in the world championships as a para-cyclist winning two gold medals. She’s since added Paralympic gold in 2016.
Todd Kortemeier #
Todd Kortemeier is a sportswriter, editor and children’s book author from Minneapolis. He is a contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.