Heptathlete Lindsay Flach Competed in U.S. Olympic Trials While Pregnant

Lindsay Flach announced on Instagram on Friday that she would compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the heptathlon while 18 weeks pregnant.

"It was hard mentally because I knew I wasn't going to be able to compete at the level I was capable of 18 weeks ago, but I just wanted to prove what women are capable of," she told Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports. "To end one chapter and begin another on my terms was amazing."

Flach said that she found out about her pregnancy in March and asked her doctor if it would be safe to continue training. She received the doctor's blessing to do so in moderation, under the condition that she would avoid big falls and pay attention to warning signs her body might provide.

"My big concern was making sure that I was healthy and the baby was healthy," she said.

She said her pregnancy had not been easy.

"My pregnancy was very rough to start," she told Eisenberg. "I had about 12 weeks of bad vomiting, which affected my training. If the Olympic Trials were three weeks ago, I don't know that I would have been there, but I started to feel better and I was able to get some really good practices in."

The 31-year-old had planned to chase a spot on the United States team one last time before starting a family with her new husband. But when the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the Tokyo Olympics, Flach decided she didn't want to put the rest of her life on hold for her dream.

"It was bittersweet," Flach told Yahoo Sports of finding out she was pregnant. "I was really excited because I've always wanted kids, but it was also a shock knowing that just like that, my track career was over."

Flach wanted to compete one last time, but she didn't push herself at the Trials.

She modified her steps for the hurdles to ensure she wouldn't fall. She cleared only one height in the high jump to ensure she didn't hurt herself. She ran just the first 100 meters of the 800-meter event to avoid overly taxing herself in Sunday's intense heat in Eugene, Oregon. And she made just one attempt each in the shot put and long jump, per Eisenberg.

She finished last. But she became one of the best stories of the Trials simply by competing.