by Surfer Carissa Moore had more than her own safety to worry about at the Paris Olympics.
According to her father, Chris, she was two months pregnant at the time of the competition.
“There were a couple days they didn’t surf because the conditions were scary and unruly,” he told USA TODAY Sports via text message. Asked if his daughter would have considered not competing in those conditions, Moore said, “I’m not sure. I didn’t have to cross that bridge. But it was stressful.”
Carissa Moore, who won a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Games, lost in the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics.
Moore, 31, learned she was pregnant about five weeks before the Olympics began on July 26 while training at Teahupo’o, Tahiti, the site of the Paris Games, according to her father. He said doctors cleared her to compete.
Carissa Moore did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY Sports via Instagram.
In a recent interview with Surfer magazine, Moore said, “…there’s so much that happens to your body in the first trimester, like feeling sick and tired and emotional, like wanting to cry at any moment. But I knew all that going in and I was like, ‘Hey, I just have to focus and get through this.'”
She added: “It helped me in that moment (of losing) to see the bigger picture. … Look at this next beautiful thing that I can focus my energy on.”
Chris Moore added, regarding safety concerns during the Olympics: “You know, if the surfboard spins and pushes you right into the stomach, the probability was very low, I think. Surfing a dangerous wave like Teahupo’o, you know, there’s definitely something where it takes everything into consideration.”
After the Olympics, Moore had repeatedly said she was going to take the next step in her career. She said having a child was something she and her husband, Luke, had discussed and wanted.
On August 22, Moore posted photos of herself with a “baby bump” and announced her pregnancy.
The baby is due in February, according to Moore, who wrote on Instagram: “We can’t wait to catch the best wave of our lives… swell coming in February 2025.”
Her father said they did not announce the news until tests showed the baby was healthy.
Moore, a five-time world champion, left the WSL as a full-time competitor ahead of the 2023 season and said she plans to move on to the next stage of her life after the Olympics.
Follow Josh Peter on social media @joshlpeter11
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Surfer Carissa Moore competed in Olympics while pregnant
