Australia’s professional women triathletes who have babies will be granted a 12-month “maternity leave” during which race officials will consider their prepregnancy performances in determining whether they qualify for events.
The Australian Professional Triathletes Association has ruled that pregnant women will not have to undergo qualifying rounds for the 1995 five-event professional women’s circuit.
“We consider ourselves as professional athletes, and we consider we are entitled to the same conditions that would apply in the workforce,” says Louise Bonham, association spokeswoman.
“Triathletes who have given birth will be on maternity leave,” says Bonham, herself a triathlete mother. “Essentially, their efforts before they were pregnant will be considered to qualify for the series.”
