World Athletics just launched a project that’s long overdue. It’s called the Childbirth And Return in Elite Sport (CARES) project, and it’s designed to look at what really happens when elite female athletes get pregnant, have babies, and try to come back to competition.
The project mixes scientific research with real policy changes — and here’s the key part — it’s actually built around what athletes themselves have to say.
As part of CARES, World Athletics is asking female athletes to complete one of two surveys. Yes, even athletes who have never been pregnant are invited to participate.
The first survey is for female athletes who became pregnant on or after January 1, 2019, during their elite career. It doesn’t matter how the pregnancy ended. The survey asks about their experience during pregnancy, childbirth, and returning to sport — including what got in their way, what helped, financial pressures, and how their world rankings could be protected during maternity leave.
The second survey is for elite female athletes who have not been pregnant. It focuses on their views about organizational support, maternity rules, and ranking policies.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe put it plainly. “We are continually looking for ways to make our sport even more equitable, and the CARES project is the next step in ensuring athletes who experience pregnancy are protected, receive support, and do not face barriers when it comes to being able to make a return to elite athletics,” he said.
Valerie Adams, Chair of the World Athletics Athletes’ Commission, shared something personal about why this matters. “When I started my career, you didn’t want to tell your sponsors if you got pregnant because you might get dropped,” she said.
That’s a pretty telling detail about how far things still need to go.
Adams, who retired as a mother of two, added: “By the time I retired – as a mother of two – we’re seeing more female athletes coming back from having kids and performing at an elite level. I hope that the work being done in this space will further inspire female athletes to not only plan their sporting career, but also plan their life.”
The surveys are open to any elite female athlete ranked in the World Athletics competition performance ranking. The deadline to submit responses is September 30.
