Amber Rutter knows that being a mother and Olympian is often a conflicting dream for female athletes.
But skeet shooter Rutter has never been one to let precedent influence her ambitions, winning her first ISSF World Cup aged just 15.
And just mere months after giving birth to son Tommy, she showed other women that being a successful athlete doesn’t have to come at a cost after winning silver at Paris 2024.
On her selection to a second Olympics, she said: “If you’d told me in the lead up to the last Olympics that I’d be having a baby just three months before competing in Paris, I would have said I was crazy - how on earth could I make that work."
"Now my mindset has completely shifted. I'm so excited to announce that I'm going to Paris, it feels amazing to be an Olympian again."
Jessica Ennis-Hill and Laura Kenny both returned to the Olympics after giving birth and won medals and mother of three Helen Glover, 37, appeared in at her fourth Games in Paris to add another to her haul.
In the build-up to Tokyo, the Mothers in Elite Sport Network was set-up for athletes to confidentially share advice on childcare, returning to training after childbirth and the physical effects of becoming a mother.
Ennis-Hill has previously spoken on suffering from 'mum guilt' as she struggled to balance family life with her Olympic ambition and after giving birth to her second son Jey in October 2025, it is something that Rutter is still trying to navigate.
“I still want to have things for myself but I also want to put time and effort into being a great mum,” added Rutter, ahead of Paris 2024.
“The last few months haven’t been without challenges, but coming home to my son at the end of the day makes it all worth it.
“I keep reminding myself that I’m a person before I’m an athlete. I've neglected that for so many years but it doesn't mean that sport isn't still a massive part of my life.
“While at the end of the day my family is a priority, and it always will be, I also have another reason to continue now. Whether that be to support Tommy financially or show him that we can do everything in life that we want to do. It’s super important to me that I set an example to him.”
Having made her Olympic debut as a teenager in Rio in 2016, Rutter has already inscribed her name in the history books as one of Britain’s most successful shooters, with five world medals, including two golds.
It was only after disappointment struck in Tokyo, when Rutter tested positive for Covid and was unable to compete, that the Windsor-born athlete admitted she wanted more.
“[After that] I realised I’d been kidding myself,” she admitted. “I’d been holding off on doing so many things that I wanted to do all because I believed what people were telling me - that you can't do both. You can’t be a mother and an athlete.
“Now I want to show other female athletes that the Olympics and your sport isn't everything - it doesn't define you. If I can inspire other women and remind them that you are a person before you are an athlete, that would be really amazing.”
Having continued to train 30 weeks into her pregnancy, Rutter was back on the range three times a week, ahead of Paris.
And as her husband James made his way out of the crowd with their son Tommy to congratulate her at Châteauroux, a surprise Rutter was not expecting, it was clear that the sharp shooter had silver round her neck but gold in her arms at Paris 2024.
“Being an athlete means that when I go into a competition, regardless of what training or preparation I’ve had, I am always there to win,” added Rutter.
Sportsbeat 2026