Moments after Elle Purrier St. Pierre sprinted to the gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in the 3,000 meters on March 2, setting a new American record with a time of 8:20.87, appraising the stranger in the stands, trying to decide if she could race him.
Purrier St. Pierre was trying to get her son Ivan, who will turn 1 two days later, to bring him while she celebrated her victory, and the only way her husband Jamie could get Ivan from the stands to her on the track was to temporarily hand him over to a stranger.
“I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m pretty sure I can catch this guy if he starts screwing with Ivan,’” she tells PEOPLE with a laugh.
Moments like that — celebrating a World Cup win with her son by her side — are the fulfillment of what Purrier St. is all about. Pierre, 29, dreamed for a long time.
Elle Purrier St. Pierre and Ivan.
Elle Purrier St. Pierre
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In 2022, fresh off the Tokyo Olympics and a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships, she announced that she and Jamie were expecting their first child the following March. For years, it was believed that female athletes had to wait until the end of their prime to start a family, if at all. But stars like Purrier St. Pierre are changing that idea.
She continued to run and compete during her pregnancy, winning bronze in the 1500m at the 2022 World Outdoor Championships, then seemed to come back even stronger after giving birth. Purrier St. Pierre began 2024 with an American record in the mile, another in the two miles and a third win in the 3,000 meters.
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Elle Purrier St. Pierre, Ivan and Jamie.
Elle Purrier St. Pierre
Purrier St. Pierre says she “just followed her heart” when she and Jamie decided it was time to have a baby.
“It was something I thought a lot about, hoped for and wished for, and the moment is never right. It’s never perfect, but it’s going to be hard no matter what. Your life is busy and if you have a career, you are busy, motivated and doing great things. But this was something Jamie and I always wanted and I think it worked out really well.”
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Purrier St. Pierre credits her sponsors like New Balance for making it possible, but also believes we’re in a “new era” of understanding that women can be athletes and moms.
“Now is a different time than 50 years ago and more and more women are breaking down barriers and saying, yes, we can do it,” she says. “And it needs more support, I’ll say that, but it’s not impossible, and these women are just going out and showing everyone how strong they are and how capable we are.”
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Elle Purrier St. Pierre.
New Balance
She showed those abilities at the World Indoor Championships while doing her post-victory interviews with Ivan in her arms, a moment she says made her feel “full circle”.
“The day I won was actually his due date,” says Purrier St. Pierre. “Going into the race I had that in the back of my mind. I knew I thought it was going to be lucky.”
“To come back and be able to do this a year later was more than I maybe even hoped for, to win a world championship a year after giving birth.”
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Now, as she celebrates her second Mother’s Day with Ivan, Purrier St. Pierre has turned her attention to the outdoor season and is working to make her second Olympic team. She is the favorite to make the US team in the 1500m, and she could climb the podium in Paris.
“As long as everything goes well and I stay consistent, I feel good and fit,” she says of her chances.
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Elle Purrier St. Pierre with his coach Mark Coogan.
Justin Britton
Additionally, after struggling through the Tokyo Olympics without her family amid COVID-19 restrictions, Purrier St. Pierre is excited about the prospect of Jamie and Ivan being in Paris.
“It would be amazing,” she says. “It’s definitely a big motivator. The Tokyo Olympics were, I’m sure, so different to many other Olympics, but Paris sounds like a lot of fun and it would be really amazing and so special to have all my family there.”
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Source: HIS Education