Winning a medal at the Olympics was hard, but raising twins is a real endurance sport

• Adeline Gray is a wrestler who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics.
• She timed getting pregnant around Olympic cycles.
• Nursing and raising twins is as hard as elite training, she said.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Adeline Gray, a member of the US Wrestling Team. It has been edited for length and clarity.

As an Olympic athlete, I sometimes live my life in four-year cycles. My first Olympics was at the 2016 Games in Rio. I got married right after the games and felt pressure to have a baby immediately so I could recover in time to train for the 2020 Olympics.

But when my husband and I looked at where we were in life, we had to be honest that we didn't quite have the resources and support network we needed to raise a child. So, we decided to wait until after the next Olympics. Then, the 2020 games were pushed back a year because of COVID. When I finally competed in Tokyo, I took home a silver medal, which was amazing.

Once home, I was so eager to get pregnant. My dad is a twin, and my sisters and I always joked about having twins. As we went into the first ultrasound, my husband was so excited by the idea of twins — he said we had waited so long that we needed two babies to catch up. Sure enough, we could see right away there were two.

The first trimester felt as hard as Olympic training

I knew we could handle twins. There were two of us. I have two boobs for nursing. It would be tough, but we wouldn't be outnumbered.

What I wasn't prepared for was the utter exhaustion of the first trimester. I truly slept 19 hours a day sometimes. My doctors urged me to eat enough protein and get adequate rest. It felt exactly like elite athletics. Later, I was so excited to hear about Lansinoh's Sponsorship of Motherhood campaign because I felt like an athlete who needed a team behind her to get through pregnancy and nursing.

Somewhere during the third trimester, my idea of exercise changed dramatically. Normally, I train at least twice a day to maintain elite-level fitness. Suddenly, just getting in and out of the car became exercise.

Luckily, my pregnancy was healthy, and I was able to deliver vaginally. My twins (a boy and a girl, whose names I don't share publicly) were each over seven pounds and very healthy.

Postpartum, I learned to be OK doing less

I thought I'd be cleared to exercise after my six-week appointment, and I was stunned when I wasn't. The doctor told me I had severe diastasis recti, a separation in my abdominal muscles. I had access to the best doctors, trainers, and physical therapists, but no one could give me a clear answer for when it would resolve.

My doctor mentioned I might heal faster if I quit nursing. She never told me to stop breastfeeding, but I still felt like I had to choose between my career and my babies. Ultimately, I stuck with it and nursed the twins for almost a year.

When I was cleared for exercise after a few months, my au pair brought the twins to the gym. I would nurse them, then she would take them for a walk while I trained, and we'd all meet for lunch. We'd repeat that again in the afternoon.

I had to give myself a lot of grace and accept where I was physically. Before my pregnancy, I could lift 100,000 pounds a day during my workouts. Postpartum, I was lucky to lift 9,000 pounds. I was doing a 10th of the weight but felt even more exhausted, thanks to the physical demands of nursing twins.

I learned to be OK doing less, but to still maintain the discipline to show up day after day.

Sometimes I travel for competitions with just 1 child

The twins turned 2 in July. In some ways, being a twin mom is easier than raising singletons because you learn so quickly. Recently, my daughter gave me a funny look and then vomited all over me. When I saw the same look on my son's face, I ran him to the bathroom.

As a wrestler, I'm excellent at diaper changes. I know that game, and the twins have accepted they can't get away from mom. We still use the au pair for childcare, but when I travel I sometimes bring just one of the kids, leaving the other with my parents. Logistically, having one toddler is much easier.

Last spring, I competed in the Olympic trials, coming in second in my weight class. However, because I was an alternate, I didn't compete in Paris.

I'm still open to competing in LA in 2026, but I'm embracing a new role on the national wrestling team. I still have a lot to give, even if I'm not in the top spot. I want the younger women on the team to realize they don't have to put their lives on hold. They can still get married and have babies while chasing their athletic dreams.