Pregnant star’s Olympic plans
Alex Morgan, co-captain of the US women’s national football team, said she plans to play in the 2020 Summer Olympics even though she’s pregnant and expecting a baby girl in April – less than four months before the Games begin.
The opening ceremony for the Tokyo Games is scheduled for July 24.
‘‘I hope to get back on the field as soon as possible,’’ Morgan, 30, told USA Today Sports. ‘‘After having a healthy baby, I want to get back with the national team and look forward to playing in Tokyo.’’
This will be Morgan’s first child, and she said motherhood would not derail her career. She has developed into a star as a member of the US women’s teams that won the 2019 World Cup, the 2015 World Cup and the 2012 Olympic gold.
‘‘There are so many women that have been able to come back to their respective sport after pregnancy and continue to have a successful family while playing their sport that they love at the highest level,’’ she said. ‘‘I plan to follow in those footsteps and be one of those women who have a family and carry my daughter around as I’m going to the next city to play. And I still want to continue to enjoy the sport that I’ve been playing for all my life.’’
She expressed just as much passion when asked about the US women team’s lawsuit against US Soccer seeking to be paid as much as members of the US men’s national team. A trial date has been set for May 5, but Morgan said she hoped the case would be settled out of court.
‘‘A lot is going on behind the scenes,’’ she said. ‘‘There’s been a lot of progress made . . .
‘‘But we’ll continue to fight for what is right and what we deserve and we continue to say the same thing. It’s not just about equal pay.
‘‘It’s about equal investment in the sport. It’s about equal marketing, advertising and along those lines it’s about equal opportunity for us to make similar or the same income as the men’s team.’’
In addition to cutting back on her training, Morgan said, she had made another concession to pregnancy: she’s more flexible with the vegan diet she said she started 21⁄2 years ago.
‘‘I’ve dipped into the more vegetarian lately,’’ Morgan said. ‘‘With the pregnancy, it’s whatever kind of cravings I have that day. But I try to stick to primarily plant based.’’
With motherhood and the Olympics ahead, Morgan said she’s refraining from making too many plans. She and her husband, professional footballer Servando Carrasco, announced the pregnancy on October 23.
‘‘I have another big year ahead of me and I think whatever I’m planning to do, the plans will probably dissolve,’’ she said.
‘‘It always happens where nothing happens according to plan. So I just am taking it week by week, enjoying my time with my husband and my family in the city of LA and just eagerly awaiting the arrival of our baby girl.’’