By the end of last season, Chaunte Howard Lowe was where she always imagined her talent could take her.
Lowe was the second-ranked high jumper in the world for 2010. She broke the 22-year-old U.S. record in the event, then broke the new mark. She is tied for the world’s highest jump of the year, 6 feet, 8 3/4 inches and has three of the top five. She became the first woman to win medals in the high jump (gold) and long jump (silver) at the U.S. championships since Babe Didrikson in 1932.
She did all that despite cutting her season a month short to avoid serious damage from a lingering hip injury. At 27, the one-time high school track superstar from Riverside, Calif., seemed in perfect position to win her first outdoor international championship medal at the world meet in August in South Korea.
And then came what Lowe calls, ”the huge surprise.”
Actually, it turned out at first to be a frighteningly small surprise, which made the unexpected pregnancy that produced her second daughter even more of a challenge for Lowe and her husband of six years, Mario.
Aurora Lowe weighed only four pounds when doctors induced her birth April 4. Her mother had gained 45 pounds because doctors insisted she stop training in the 26th week and do little more than eat to offset complications from intrauterine growth restriction.
Lowe, who lives in suburban Atlanta, resumed training two days after giving birth despite her doctor’s advice to do nothing for six weeks. Her goal: compete at the U.S. championships so she could earn a place on the world team.
”You’re excited when you find out about being pregnant and at the same time, you’re thinking, ‘Oh, man, why now?’ ” Lowe said. ”But you know God’s timing is perfect, so I just said to myself, ‘OK, I can do this.’ ”
After all, Lowe has some experience coming back from childbirth. She won the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials less than 11 months after giving birth to her first child, Jasmine.
Now she has just 11 1/2 weeks between Aurora’s birth and the June 24 high jump at the U.S. championships, where Lowe needs a top three finish and a jump of 6-4 3/4 to assure a spot on the world team.
”Her chances are excellent,” said her coach, Nat Page. ”She is very gifted.”
Lowe is buoyed by knowing other high jumpers have made quick recoveries from childbirth, including Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria and Gwen Wentland-Mikinski of the U.S.
But Lowe has no desire to ask either former jumper about the experience.
”I know it’s hard,” she said.
Hers may be the hardest.
Lowe gained only 15 pounds during her pregnancy with Jasmine and waited eight weeks before training again. She still has 12 more pounds to lose from the gain with Aurora.
Then there was the matter of having a baby so small, even though the pregnancy was full term. Lowe said she stayed awake most of the first four weeks after Aurora came home to make sure she was breathing.
”She had these itty-bitty legs and hips and was too small even for preemie clothes,” Lowe said. ”There were times I just cried because I didn’t think I could keep her alive.”
At her two-month checkup last week, Aurora weighed 9 pounds, 15 ounces.
”She is a chunky little one now, and I love it,” said Lowe, who intends to keep breastfeeding for several months.
With peace of mind — and some sleep — Lowe could invest more energy in her workouts. It was Page’s job to find a balance between the need to maximize the little time before nationals and minimize the risk of injury.
”She’s like any other top athlete, with a mindset of ‘I’ll train hard and the best I can and not look at the miracle that just took place,’ ” said Page, a two-time state high jump champion at Evanston and the 1979 NCAA champion for Missouri. ”I had to be restrictive, to make sure she did a little at a time.”
Lowe did her first competition 10 days ago, clearing 5-8 3/4 in a local meet. Because the current level of elite women’s U.S. jumpers other than her is mediocre, she may need a jump of only 6-2 to make the top three. If Lowe does not win nationals, she would have until Aug. 15 to meet the worlds qualifying standard of 6-4 3/4.
”The first day I went to practice, I couldn’t clear any bar, and it was horrible,” she said. ”Now I’m up to 6 feet.
”If I make the team, I buy myself another two months and have no doubt I can get on the podium at worlds.”
A year ago, that would have been no surprise.
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