Helen Glover MBE: Cornwall's double Olympic champion proving you can be a mother and an athlete

Two-time gold medallist Helen Glover MBE has said she wants to prove to people you can enjoy "being an athlete and a mother" as she heads to the Paris Olympics.

The 38-year-old, from Penzance, Cornwall, is bidding to become the first British mum-of-three to win an Olympic medal.

She previously made history in Tokyo in 2021 when she became the first mother to compete for the GB Rowing Team at an Olympic Games, but narrowly missed out on a medal after finishing fourth.

The double Olympic Champion, who has a five-year-old son and four-year-old-twins with husband and wildlife broadcaster Steve Backshall, is hoping to add to the pair of gold medals she won at London 2012 and Rio 2016, so she has one for each of her children.

"A goal for each of the kids - that would just be the dream," Glover said.

"I'd love to add to that tally. I think the podium and a medal is something that I have in my sights."

Glover, whose twice retired from the sport, said she's made it her mission to show people you can be both an athlete and a mother but knew it would be difficult.

"When I first stepped back into the team for Tokyo, there was a lot of people saying that I couldn't do it, it wouldn't be possible and that I shouldn't do it for various reasons," she said.

"To prove them wrong took a lot of energy, a lot of force and a lot of will," she added.

Despite facing challenges, Glover said she's determined to make it easier for other people and wants "to break down walls so the floodgates can open for others."

She said: "I feel really proud of the impact that this has on other parents, other mums, and young kids, especially girls, looking up to women to see what they want to be when they're older.

"Even though Olympic sport can feel like this isolated, quite selfish dream, I feel like I'm taking a lot of people along the way with me this time round - and it feels much more like I have something to prove on other people's behalf."

This year, Glover is not the only mother on the Team GB rowing team heading to the Olympic Games.

Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne, who finished seventh in the quadruple sculls at the Tokyo games, is now heading to her second Olympic Games after giving birth to Freddie in 2022.

The 29-year-old, who has a two-year-old son, said following in Helen's footsteps has made her return to the sport easier.

She said: "Though we've had very different journeys - in terms of when we've had the children and the number of children - it definitely opened a door for me knowing there was a chance it was possible, so I just wanted to see it was possible for me."

"I know it's not going to be possible for everyone and I'm incredibly luckily to have the huge support network behind me, but the more of us that are able to do it, the more we're going to be able to normalise it. And that is an incredible thing," Ms Hodgkins Byrne added.

The Olympian, who was one of the first students to enrol on the rowing programme at Gloucestershire's Hartpury College, said being a mother has made a "huge difference" to her career.

Hodgkins Byrne said: "Trying to get selected this year was incredibly stressful, but I'm lucky that when I walk through the door, by being around him, it's a complete switch off from rowing.

"Just seeing him run around with a stick reminds me that there's more to life than my rowing career, and that's freed me up to take the risks that I needed to do to make the boat go fast enough."

Glover, who began rowing late after being picked up by UK Sport's Sporting Giants Programme aged 21, said she used to look up to people at the pinnacle of the sport, but never imagined it would be her.

She said: "You never ever put yourself in the position of being that person for somebody else.

"When people that I'm training alongside say that I was part of their journey, I never see myself as that person, but it's an amazing by-product of just doing what I love," she added.