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From the Beijing Games

Lisa Leslie: First-Time Mom One Year, Four-Time Olympian The Next

By JulieD

Lisa LeslieLisa Leslie, 36 years old and mother of one year old, Lauren Jolie, is arguably the finest female basketball player to ever play the game She was the first woman to slam dunk in a professional basketball game and is the WNBA's all time leading scorer.

Just a year after giving birth, Lisa is back at the Olympics, going for her fourth consecutive gold medal, which give her the distinction of being  the first female basketball player to accomplish a four-peat.

Having a baby hasn't seemed to hinder Lisa's game at all.  In 2007, just four months after Lauren was born, she was back on e court with Team USA during its College Tour. As she told NBC, "Since returning to the game, I have a lot more to play for with Lauren sitting on the sideline with my husband and it's just been awesome to be able to come back and play after having a baby and just waking up to this face every morning whether it's 3:00am, 4:00am, 5:00am, or 6:00 am, it's just a blessing to be able to have a baby."

Training: In Motherhood & Athletics

Despite training hard all day every day for the 2008 Olympic Games, Lisa, like any mom, is up all hours of the night nursing her baby. She admitted to NBC that "nursing is probably the hardest part of motherhood just because your baby is truly relying on you and what you eat is what she eats so that's probably been the hardest part, but it's also beautiful."

Leslie feels really good about coming back after her pregnancy, although she says that "training's been very hard, very different from any other time, obviously, since having the baby, but I feel really great. I've worked hard and it's going to be a really exciting season for me."

She is definitely a U.S. athlete-mom to  watch at the Beijing Games!