U.S. Athlete Alysia Montano, Nearly Nine Months Pregnant, Completes 800 Meter Race!

Alysia Montano is an athlete pregnant with her first child. She is thirty four weeks in to her pregnancy (8.5 months). However, that didn’t seem to have deterred her from continuing to participate in her favorite track and field championships the least bit.

The gritty 28-year-old is in the news after she participated in an 800 meter race at the U.S. Track and Field Championships! Alysia, who happens to be a five-time national champion – could only finish last this time round for obvious reasons, says ABC News. She was also 35 seconds slower than her personal best time of 1:57.34 which she clocked in 2010 in Monaco. This time, Alysia clocked in at (impressive for a pregnant woman) 2:32.13 seconds!

Alysia also happens to be 800m national champion for the past four years.

The crowd assembled in Hornet Stadium to witness the event gave Alysia a standing ovation after she completed the race – even though she was trailing the lead pack by over 120 meters. People started cheering for Alysia just after she finished her first lap. The cheer turned into a roar by the time she finished.

During the qualifying heat, Alysia was overheard telling the media that she had been running throughout her pregnancy, and she “felt really, really good during the whole process.”

The only worry that Alysia had before the race was the fear of getting lapped. “I just didn’t want to get lapped and be the first person to get lapped in the 800.” As it turned out, she was never close to being lapped and managed to keep up a steady pace right from the start till the end.

While the sight of a pregnant woman participating in an track event might have turned a few eyebrows, Alysia says she consulted her doctors before her decision, and only after they gave her the go ahead, did she decide to participate. Alysia is due in the second week of July.

Alysia Montano now joins the ranks of other extreme mothers who have done supposedly crazy things while they were pregnant. Just a few weeks ago, The Inquistr had reported on a 33-year-old Arizona woman named Meghan Leatherman who was seen lifting weights hours before she gave birth!

Would you consider doing what Alysia Montano did, given the chance?

[Image Via Chris Lotsbom]