Mother’s Day is fast approaching, and what better athlete to celebrate than Olympic marathon runner Malindi Elmore?
Elmore has qualified for the Paris Games as a marathon runner for Canada, marking her second appearance in that Olympic event. She competed in the 1,500-meter race in the 2004 Athens Olympics when she was 24.
Elmore would retire from athletics in 2012.
Since that time she has become a mother to two young children, come out of retirement, and eventually competed in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo at the age of 40.
She finished in the top 10.
Now, Paris awaits. And Elmore, at the age of 44, will have her kids there to watch, something they couldn’t do in Tokyo.
“That’s one of the big reasons I didn’t retire after Tokyo,” she said in a recent interview. “That was the quarantined Olympics and nobody was really allowed there.”
“I finished, and I was like, ‘I want my kids to see this. I want them to be there with me,’” adds Elmore. “That really motivated me to continue training, and we’re thrilled we get to go to Paris.”
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Training For Malindi Elmore
A recent profile of Malindi Elmore shows just how hectic life as a 44-year-old mother of two who also happens to be training for an Olympic marathon might be.
“Got a busy day of martial arts and a couple of baseball practices later to attend, so that’s the highlight of my day,” she told Fox News Digital.
Elmore explains that she simply finds time to run wherever she can.
“I get up and run early before he has to go to work,” she said of her husband, who also happens to be an Olympian for Canada.
“My kids are in school now, so I can run when they’re in school. I’ll run to baseball, I’ll run during their piano lesson,” sh explains. “Basically, any time there’s an opening, I got my running shoes in the back of my car and I throw them on and go for a run.”
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Offers Some Good Advice This Mother’s Day
So Malindi Elmore, it seems, is Super Mom. But her interview with Fox also reveals that being a good parent and having a good family life involves having your own goals.
“I think it’s important for people to have their own personal goals while they have families and have other goals,” she said. “You’re a better parent if you’ve got some big goals to go after and some things you owe yourself. It’s making your kids better kids, too. And the same can be said for dads to have big goals.”
There it is, Moms who are athletes or otherwise. Take time for you. What better message this Mother’s Day?
As for Elmore’s aspirations in Paris. She is hoping another top 10 finish in the marathon is reachable.
“Going back to Paris, I feel like if I can back it up with another top-10 finish, I’d be really, really pleased with that,” she said.
We would too. Good luck, Malindi!
More about:Athletics