After Baby, a Gold?

Jed Jacobsohn for The New York TimesAmy Acuff celebrating at the Olympic trials in June.

Qualifying for the women’s Olympic high jump final begins on Thursday morning. In this year’s competition, at least three of the medal contenders have given birth in the last year or two, including the gold medal favorite, Anna Chicherova of Russia, and the American Olympic trials champion Chaunté Lowe. And that does not include the defending Olympic champion, Tia Hellebaut of Belgium, who is in the midst of a second comeback to the sport after having had two children since she won the gold medal four years ago.
It is considered an urban legend in track circles that women get stronger as athletes after they have had children. Does this year’s high jump competition give credence to that legend — and its relation to the high jump in particular — or is it just more fodder for it?
“I’m not aware of anything that would suggest pregnancy is ergogenic, that it’s performance enhancing or muscle building,” said Dr. Elizabeth A. Joy, a sports medicine specialist at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City. Yet the athletes themselves suggest otherwise