On Thursday, June 22, Olympic athlete Alysia Montano reminded the world that she is a real-life Wonder Woman. At five-months pregnant, the 31-year-old runner participated in the 800-meter dash in a track-and-field event at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California. Later, the Olympian took to social media to explain that she decided to run while pregnant to foster societal acceptance of exercise for pregnant women and fight the stigma that women can't workout while pregnant. She wrote:
3 years after I ran the 2014 USA Nationals at 8 months pregnant I want to echo the same message after my run at the same event this [past] week, this time pregnant with my second at 5 months pregnant. My intention is to inform and to empower.
In addition to posting a throwback photo to Instagram and adding the caption describing her reasoning for running, Alysia Montano posted pictures of herself racing. Here she is in full superhero-mom-to-be mode:
The photos Alysia Montano posted are by no means a typical maternity photo shoot, and she proudly acknowledged that fact in the caption for this next photo:
Alysia Montano, who is originally from Queens, New York, dressed for the occasion at Hornet Stadium and wore a Wonder Woman shirt. According to Team USA, Montano said she had felt inspired to sign up for the USA Nationals when she heard Gal Gadot was five-months pregnant when she filmed certain scenes in Wonder Woman. Montano also wore flowers in her hair, and on her website, she explained why she did so, writing:
The flower to me means strength with femininity. I think that a lot of people say things like you run like a girl. That doesn't mean you have to run soft or you have to run dainty. It means that you're strong.
In the event, Alysia Montano finished last in her first-round heat (but first in our hearts). However, she came in with a time of two minutes and 21.40 seconds, which was 11 seconds faster than her time in the 2014 event. Montano said some people had predicted she would run faster than she ran in 2014 because she was less pregnant, but Montano didn't let people diminish the importance of either achievement. She said:
I was like, 'I'm still pregnant.' And it is hotter out there today.
Alysia Montano first ran the competitive race while pregnant in 2014 when she was eight-months pregnant with her first child, daughter Linnéa. Montano said her first daughter was born at seven pounds and 15 ounces on August 15, 2014. She also revealed her first child had "a full 40 weeks of gestation" and was born "happy and healthy" to boot. What an inspiration!
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