Making the Olympics is no small feat. Neither is nursing and pumping milk to keep a tiny human alive. Doing both at once? That deserves more than a gold medal and a round of applause. It deserves support.
At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, French lactating parents will—finally—get just that. Earlier this year, the French Olympic Committee announced it would provide hotel rooms for French athletes not far from the athletes’ village so they can sleep with their nursing children. Partners can also stay to look out for the little ones while their Olympian parents go for the gold.
There will even be a social area for tiny tykes and their families.
It’s unclear if this perk will be extended to all athletes, regardless of nationality. However, French Olympic Committee secretary general Astrid Guyart told media outlets that she estimates the total cost is about 40,000 euros (about $43,000).
The move is a stark cry from the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, during which parents had to publicly demand the right to bring their nursing infant to the city amid COVID-19 restrictions. Listen, the pandemic was serious, but babies still needed to eat.
It also comes after some serious advocacy by French Judo star Clarisse Agbegnenou, who nursed her baby, Athena, while training for—and winning—her sixth world title last year.
Agbegnenou celebrated the news in an Instagram post shared by The Female Quotient, an organization dedicated to closing gaps like pay and care that disproportionately affect women. In the video, you see Agbegnenou and Athena in both of their elements: Agbegnenou near a judo court and Athena nursing away.
Paralympian Sarah Storey, who has won 28 medals, is also in the video. In the caption, there’s a quote from her: “It’s absolutely possible to breastfeed and be at the highest level of sport because I’ve done it. Your baby is settled, it’s not crying, it’s not upset, and you can focus on the job that you’ve got to do as an athlete.”
It’s possible but not easy—especially when the system puts hurdles in your way (and not the kind they put on the track). That’s why this news and the video are so important.
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The commenters on the Instagram post are impressed.
“I’d like a list of the breastfeeding athletes so I can cheer for them. I am in awe,” wrote one.
“Imagine having an Olympic-level body and also producing milk! These women are amazing,” said another.
What’s also amazing is that these athletes stepped into their power and shook up a broken system, laying the foundation for better accommodations for future Olympians. It’s also an example to all employers that it’s entirely possible—and right—to treat employees as full people.
Nursing parents’ concerns were discarded three years ago until the outcry went public. I remember the comments during the outcry, too. People who don’t understand lactation were telling them to “just bottle feed until the Olympics were over” or to “just stay home,” as if the opportunity to go to the Olympics comes along every day.
Advocacy is so important. These athletes have training schedules to adhere to. Like other working parents, they go home and become “moms”—a role that often comes with so much invisible work. Becoming a visible advocate for change can feel like another to-do, but it’s one Agbegnenou took on, and risk was involved.
She could have been labeled “high-maintenance” or “difficult,” terms sometimes used when women make demands. It’s not lost on me that she’s Black in a predominantly white country, either, and therefore, like Black people in the U.S., no doubt faces unconscious (and conscious) bias.
But she took the risk, and other athletes get to reap the rewards—the opportunity to be near their infants and continue to feed them. Also, families and kids will have a chance to mix and mingle in a social area.