The photograph had gone around the world. Captured by specialist photographer Alexis Berg during the night of the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) breastfeeding her infant at the mid-race “base of life”, September 1, 2018, before leaving on the alpine trails, Britain’s Sophie Power had become the face of motherhood in sport – far beyond the landernau of ultra-trail. Five years later, the UTMB World series circuit, which notably organizes the premier ultra-trail event, announced on Thursday April 20 the establishment of a “pregnancy policy” to support pregnant athletes and their entourage.
These new rules, which will come into force this year, concern “pregnant athletes, athletes whose partner is pregnant as well as athletes in the process of adoption or surrogacy”, specifies the UTMB group, now organizer of an ultra-trail circuit, in a press release. The policy put in place grants pregnant women “full reimbursement of their registration and priority access usable within five or two years, depending on the type of race”. Those whose partner is pregnant, or parents in the process of adoption or engaged in a surrogacy process (GPA), will have the choice between “postponing their registration within two years or being reimbursed in full”.
Aiming to encourage runners “to find the trail paths in a safe environment, and within a sufficient period of time after birth”, this “pregnancy policy”, which will apply to all races on the UTMB circuit, has was designed with sports and health professionals, the Pro Trail Runners Association (trail runners’ union) and the SheRACES association of the British Sophie Power, which campaigns for more inclusion in the trail, after having put the question at the heart of the debates, in 2018.
Get the sesame for the UTMB
High mass of the world ultra-trail, which will celebrate its twentieth edition this summer, the UTMB is a race where bibs are highly sought after, and where a draw system decides between many competitors who have done what is necessary to s to qualify there sportingly. And in 2018, Sophie Power won the sesame to take the start in Chamonix (Haute-Savoie), she who had been chasing after for several years. Only, in June 2018, the Londoner gave birth to her second child, Cormac. “I had managed to get a place when I was pregnant with [my eldest son] in 2014, but they refused to postpone my participation for a year, she said then. They do it for injuries but don’t accept for pregnant women, because, according to them, “it’s a choice”. No question of missing the meeting a second time.
With her doctor and her husband, the British athlete drew up a flight plan allowing her to run the 170 kilometers and 10,000 meters of elevation gain around Mont Blanc. Her companion will join her at all possible meeting points on the course, with their 3-month-old child, to breastfeed her, a milk pump completing the system. For the young mother (36 years old then), despite the demands of the race, you have to avoid raising your heart rate too much in order to be able to breastfeed in good conditions.
Photographed – with her consent – ??by trail photography specialist Alexis Berg, who discovers “a seemingly unreal scene” after sixteen hours of racing, Sophie Power takes advantage of the photo’s distribution to the four corners of the world to convey a message. “New mothers face many challenges when they return to their sport practice, recounts the trail runner in a documentary produced by her equipment manufacturer in 2021. With my testimony, I hope to encourage these women and others to found or expand their family without compromising their goals or dreams. »
A photo that reshapes sport
If she completed the 2018 Mont Blanc Tour in more than forty-three hours of effort, Sophie Power has traveled the world with her image evoking a Renaissance painting. The photo of Alexis Berg was selected in early March by the British daily The Guardian among “the twenty-five photographs that have reshaped sport” – and the way we see it -, such as those of Mohamed Ali, Diego Maradona or the high jumper Dick Fosbury
Five years after having “[wished] that this policy would change to encourage more women to turn to ultra-trail”, Sophie Power, who has since created the SheRACES association with this in mind, sees her wishes granted. “I am delighted (…) with this unprecedented pregnancy policy, which demonstrates the commitment [of UTMB World series] to support all women to return to racing when they feel ready”, welcomed the British in the UTMB press release.
As the Clarisse Cremer affair in sailing recently showed – the sailor was landed by her partner brand following her pregnancy, before finding a boat this week for the Vendée Globe – maternity in sport high level remains a complex issue. But the adoption of a “pregnancy policy” by one of the biggest players in world trail running is in line with the reflection initiated at the beginning of the year by the Ministry of Sports to improve the situation of sportswomen in high level who choose to become a mother during their sporting career.