A former gymnastics star and 44-year-old mother of two recently made a triumphant comeback at the Adult Gymnastics British Championships by winning gold in the intermediate category, dispelling the notion that motherhood hinders the pursuit of one’s dreams.
After a quarter century away from gymnastics, Suzy Kerfoot found her motivation to return when she accompanied her daughters to a gymnastics club. Swiftly returning to the competition world, she clinched her recent gold victory on August 6 in the fourth competition she participated in since ending her hiatus five years ago.
At the competition, she competed in four disciplines: beam, floor, bars, and vault. She won overall on three of them with moves including somersaults and backflips.
Kerfoot told the BBC what it felt like to return to gymnastics, saying, “All the familiar feelings came back and it was so emotional.”
Kerfoot stopped competing in gymnastics at 15 years old. Prior to her departure, she was the team captain at the British Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1994. When she started training again, her coach discovered she could still do many of the moves from her earlier days. Today, she wears her old leotard for good luck.
“I had to really channel my mind, returning to gymnastics has been both a fairy tale and really hard,” she said. “But when I won, I felt so proud of myself.”
Kerfoot’s remarkable resurgence is a testament to the undeniable truth that women can be mothers and still reach for their dreams.
Live Action News has shared numerous stories of women who embraced motherhood while pursuing other aspirations. Jolie Robinson, for example, was a talented track star at Saddleback College who won the heptathlon title at Souther California Regional Finals, winning two events. Robinson is not just a record-breaking athlete — she is also a mom who learned she was unexpectedly pregnant in high school. Over the years, she discovered, “I could still be me and do the things I love, and also be a great mom.”
In another example, in 2021, Olympic athlete Elinor Barker took home the silver medal in the women’s team pursuit track cycling event at the Tokyo Olympics while pregnant. In 2022, singer Haley Slaton auditioned for American Idol while she was over five months pregnant, saying, “Just being a mom shouldn’t stop you from following your dreams.”
The stories of these incredible women are a poignant reminder that not only does motherhood not stop women from attaining their dreams, it often makes their achievements even more fulfilling.
