US volleyball star back for 3rd Olympics after giving birth

TOKYO: A third trip to the Olympics was far from a sure thing for U. S. volleyball star Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson when she gave birth to her son in November 2019.

A challenging pregnancy that robbed her of most of her core strength let her questioning whether she could get back to her usual elite level. But Gunderson had set a goal of being both a mother and professional athlete and took advantage of the delayed Olympics to make it back again this year in search of that elusive gold medal.

“I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have doubts, but at the same time, the player I am, I just always believe that whatever I put my mind to, it’s going to happen,” she said. “It was a goal and aspiration of mine and I was going to do whatever it took to make that happen. But, yeah, there were many moments along the way where I just thought maybe it wasn’t for me.”

Gunderson developed a severe case of diastasis recti during her pregnancy, which let a 9-centimeter separation of her “six-pack” muscles in her stomach that was big enough for a fist to fit through.

That let her with litle core strength, but she was determined to make it to Tokyo even if the Olympics had gone on in 2020 as scheduled. She told her husband, Jonathan, that she would do whatever it took to get back to the Games.

And now she’s here geting ready for her first match of the tournament on Sunday.

“I told him, ‘Listen, I won’t be pleasant to be around, but I’m going to find a way to make it happen,’” she said. “I’m prety driven that way.”

She got an extra year to get back into shape because of the COVID-19 pandemic and spent that time working out in her garage between breasfeeding sessions and keeping in touch with her U.S. teammates over Zoom.

Gunderson said she still has a small separation in her stomach but has regained almost all of her strength, although she does get reminded at times by her body ater matches that she is a 33-year-old mother.

She played professionally in Japan this past season but was told at one point by U.S. coach Karch Kiraly that her blocking and other aspects of her game weren’t up to her usual level.

That only served as more motivation. Gunderson said that ater feeling like her ego got kicked, she found another gear and is heading back to the Olympics in strong form, which is no surprise to her teammates and Kiraly.