GLOVE STORY
New European champion Helen: Vital to talk about being a mum in sport... although I’m faster now with three kids
BY ALAN SMITH HELEN GLOVER has never wanted to be placed upon a pedestal.
But the GB rowing star knows she will keep having conversations about motherhood and elite performance until her trailblazing path becomes the norm.
The 37-year-old is aiming for a fourth Olympics this summer as part of the women’s fours team.
And the former obsessive over minor details says she has “embraced imperfection” to set faster times in training than ever before.
Yesterday Glover was part of a quartet – alongside Esme Booth, Samantha Redgrave and Rebecca Shorten – that eased past Romania to win European championship gold in Hungary.
But by proving over and over that athletes can return to the top of their sports after giving birth, the mum of three understands why her story is such a source of inspiration.
Glover said at the launch of NatWest’s Team Talk campaign: “When I’m out there rowing on the water, you can spotlight me from any time in the past decade.
“I feel, physically and emotionally, fundamentally the same person as I always have been when I’m out there.
“For me, that’s all about performance. But every time I’m asked about being a mum, having a family and returning to sport, I know it’s really important to have these conversations.
“If it wasn’t interesting, it would be because everyone would feel they could do it.
“Until that time comes, until there are no glass ceilings for women based on having a family and planning a pregnancy, we need to have
these conversations.” The logistics are not easy, but Glover and her husband Steve Backshall make it work.
When Glover first appeared at an Olympics, in 2012, her approach was unashamedly selfish.
“I’d have laughed at anyone who had told me I shouldn’t be all-encompassing because that’s what I thought I needed to do,” she said.
Now, her non-negotiable is to be there for school pick-up every day. Instead of life fitting around training, the training fits around life.
And that balance is working. In a typical week she trains from 6.30am every weekday
right through to 3pm, with Wednesday afternoons designated for life admin.
But there are always places for the children to be – from their own sporting activities to playdates with friends.
So, for Glover to pursue another Olympics has meant “freeing up my thinking” and not getting stressed by schedule changes.
“It has taken the pressure off, doing exciting things imperfectly,” she said. “I’ve learnt there’s more than one way of doing it.
“The times I’m doing right now, which are better than ever at 37 and with three kids, has made me think, ‘Hang on,
maybe there’s something in this’.” That is why she feels confident of adding to her medals, both gold, from London 12 years ago and Rio in 2016.
But it was the unusual, restrictive Tokyo environment that has motivated her to give it another shot in Paris.
Glover had retired before the pandemic delayed those Games by a year. But during lockdown she felt the urge to return.
She is “proud” to have made it, but the quarantined environment “that was never going to produce top results” did not leave her satisfied.
After finishing fourth in the pair, alongside Polly Swann, Glover did not announce a second retirement. Many
assumed a year off meant the end, but, “I just left the options open,” she said.
She has performed well since returning in late 2022. This time she is the senior figure of the four, a group capable of finishing on the podium.
Glover added: “There’s definitely a responsibility that I welcome. When I started, I looked up at Olympians who had won medals and wanted them to tell me everything.”
So Glover finds herself back on a pedestal again – inspiring not just the latest rowing stars, but mothers across the land.
The times I’m doing right now are better than
ever at 37