Australian hurdler opts to train without baby nearby

Jana Pittman Rawlinson, the Australian track and field star who predicted shortly after son Cornelis' birth in December that motherhood wouldn't pose a problem for her return to training, has found that the two don't always peacefully co-exist.  The former world-champion hurdler and her husband/trainer Chris recently made the difficult decision to send 8-month-old Cornelis home to Australia to stay with Jana's mom while Jana concentrates on this year's world championship in Japan. 

Initially, it was more for him because when we first went over to the UK he really suffered badly from jet lag for about six weeks. The poor little sod has been stuck in a hotel room for three weeks now and we really thought it would be nice for him to be back in his home environment.  Realistically, I'm only going to be away from him for seven days, which for me and him is probably a better scenario.

Despite having only recently given birth, Jana has won six of her seven 'lead-up' races heading into the world championships -- Which bodes well for her chances not only this week in Japan, but also at the Olympic Games in Beijing next summer. 

If I can finish top-five at the world champs this year surely it's going make some people pretty scared of you next year. If eight months after you've had a baby you can get into the top five in the world, what can you do with another year of training under your belt?

Little Cornelis, whom the couple call 'Cor,' need not worry about missing his mom's biggest race ever. 

He'll definitely come with us to Beijing next year, but this year we just thought it was better that he go home with mum.

Source:  Sydney Morning Herald

Published 8/22/07 by


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