Turns out, Kerri Walsh Jennings winning a gold medal in the London Olympics was more impressive than it appeared. Turns out, she and partner Misty May-Treanor took the ultimate prize while Walsh Jennings was pregnant.
With a due date of April 9, Walsh Jennings revealed on the Today Show that was five weeks pregnant when competing in volleyball in the Games.
Walsh Jennings said she was “moody and touchy” during the Olympics, which is odd for the normally jovial athlete. On top of that, her period was late. It was easy to dismiss those symptoms as stress considering all that was at stake in competing for a third goal medal.
However, May-Treanor figured it out before Walsh Jennings did, telling her partner, “You’re probably pregnant.”
“I thought it could have been the stress of the games and travel kind of throws your schedule off, but I knew,” Walsh Jennings told host Matt Lauer. “At some point, you’re late and then you start feeling something. And I definitely started feeling something in London.”
Beach volleyball requires athletes to throw themselves all over the court, but Walsh Jennings said the pregnancy did not limit her efforts on the court. “I gave everything I had,” she said on the show.
This race to a gold medal was definitely the most difficult for the pair as they were up against tougher competition than in previous Olympics. They faced Americans Jen Kessy and April Ross in the finals to win their third straight Olympic gold medal.
Walsh Jennings said her husband joked that she gets a baby for every gold medal. Though May-Treanor retired after London, Walsh Jennings said she wants to play in Rio in four years. That’s still a ways off and a child in your life can change how you think. But don’t be surprised if they name the upcoming baby “Golden.”
