Paralympic medallist Leanne Taylor to celebrate first Mother’s Day as a mom

WINNIPEG – Leanne Taylor won’t be home for her first Mother’s Day as a mom.

By Sunday, the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games bronze medallist in the women’s wheelchair triathlon, will be in Yokohama, Japan preparing for next Saturday’s (May 16) season opening event on the Para triathlon World Cup circuit.

However, her nine-month-old son Oliver, her husband and competition handler Scott Dyck, who assists with race transitions and logistics, as well as her mother, will all be there alongside her to accompany Taylor in her new life journey.

‘’It’s crazy but we love it,’’ said Taylor, about parenthood. ‘’Oliver has travelled quite a bit already. This will be his longest trip.’’

Travelling as a Para athlete already involves handcycles, racing chairs and swim gear. Now there are also strollers, stacks of diapers, and Oliver himself.

‘’It’s definitely more,’’ said Taylor, 33, paralyzed from the waist down in a biking accident in 2018. ‘’But when he gives me a big smile, whatever you were stressed about suddenly doesn’t matter so much.’’

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After sitting out 2025 during to her pregnancy, Taylor admits she is heading into the unknown this summer on the Para triathlon circuit.

‘’Every other competition I’ve gone into, I felt pretty confident about what the targets were,’’ she said in an interview with CPC. ‘’This time it’s a little more of a question mark and that’s kind of exciting.’’

There are new challenges now for Taylor returning to elite sport after pregnancy, many of which don’t include split times and reps in the weight room.

‘’Finding babysitters and just the logistics of everything is one of those things you don’t necessarily think about in advance,’’ she said. ‘’Recovery is harder. You don’t get as much sleep.’’

During her pregnancy, Taylor made sure she kept as active as possible. That self-discipline has paid off with the recovery curve less arduous than originally forecasted.

She credits her doctor for encouraging her to exercise. Swimming helped her maintain fitness and she also won the war with handcycling.

‘’The handcycle was hard during pregnancy because they are very aerodynamic and don’t allow for a lot of extra space,’’ she said. ‘’But getting back on it afterward was also very satisfying.’’

Now she is back to two training sessions a day, seven days a week at times. Taylor says motherhood has changed how she views life as an athlete.

“If I have a bad training day, it’s not a bad day unless the little man’s unhappy,’’ said Taylor, a compliance officer at a pharmaceutical company. She was named one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Biotechnology in 2022. ‘’It’s added a really happy balance.’’

Support from family has made the transition back to sport possible. Taylor also praised the support she has received from Triathlon Canada and the wider sport system.

‘’I think we had some hesitation because of stories athletes maybe experienced in the past,’’ she said. ‘’But it’s been really refreshing. Teammates and staff have embraced motherhood in a way I wasn’t expecting. It’s been different from maybe what athletes experienced in the past.’’

She also pointed to changes within the international sport system that have helped athlete-mothers continue competing, including maternity leave policies that allow women to step away from racing without feeling like their careers are over.

On her Instagram account, Taylor continues to document her parenting journey hoping to provide visibility for parents and athletes with a disability considering starting families during their careers.

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‘’I realized how valuable it was for me to see other parents with a disability doing it,’’ she said. ‘’I hope people see that people with a disability can be athletes, be mothers, have jobs, and wear many different hats.’’

As a mom herself and with her own mother alongside her as well, this Mother’s Day carries special meaning.

‘’We waited until after the Games to try and have a family,’’ she said. ‘’There’s always that fear that maybe you won’t get that opportunity. So, it really feels special that I got to have this amazing experience and then also become a mother.’’

For next Saturday, the first race in Yokohama will be a testing ground.

‘’I’m just excited to be back.’’