It certainly will not go down as the fastest 800-meter race of her career, but Alysia Montaño will certainly remember her run at this year’s U.S. Track and Field Championships for a long time. The 31-year-old ran the race while five months pregnant with her second child.
This isn’t the first time Montaño arrived at the U.S. championships to run pregnant. Back in 2014, she competed in the 800 meters while eight months along because she wanted to show women that they should still be active while pregnant. This time around, in the searing heat, she ran 11 seconds faster than her 2014 time.
Montaño finished last in her heat and thus won’t qualify for the World Championships this summer; however, that’s not why the two-time bronze medalist at the world championships came to this year’s meet to run. Wearing a top with Wonder Woman’s face emblazoned on it, she said she wanted to act as an inspiration to her fans and friends.
“I represent so many different people: women, black women, pregnant women,” Montaño told TeamUSA.org. “It’s my responsibility to make sure I’m a voice and an advocate for them.”