“THE ANSWER” will hold “THE ANSWER International Women’s Week” this year to think regarding the present and future of female athletes in line with “International Women’s Day” on March 8. Eight athletes will appear for a week from the 1st to the 8th under the theme of “a world where female athletes can shine in their own way” and delve into the issues of the sports world from eight perspectives. The 7th day is “Return to competition with female athletes”. Yuka Mabuchi, a swimmer who gave birth to two children and returned to active duty for the first time in five years in December last year, will appear.
“THE ANSWER International Women’s Week” Day 7 Theme is “Women Athletes and Return to Competition”
“THE ANSWER” will hold “THE ANSWER International Women’s Week” this year to think regarding the present and future of female athletes in line with “International Women’s Day” on March 8. Eight athletes will appear for a week from the 1st to the 8th under the theme of “a world where female athletes can shine in their own way” and delve into the issues of the sports world from eight perspectives. The 7th day is “Return to competition with female athletes”. Yuka Mabuchi, a swimmer who gave birth to two children and returned to active duty for the first time in five years in December last year, will appear.
He started competing at the age of 3 and was aiming for the Olympics as a top player, but in May following graduating from university when he was 22 years old, he married Daiya Seto, the representative of Japan for swimming, and retired in July. Dedicated to her husband’s support, she was blessed with two children, but at the age of 26 she decided to return to active duty. In the second part, he clarified how to deal with children who have changed following returning to work, and talked regarding the desire to improve the environment for female athletes who have experienced childbirth in order to balance “competition and child-rearing.” (Interview / text = Kyoko Nagashima)
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After graduating from university, he retired from the diving competition that he had been doing for regarding 20 years. After her marriage and childbirth, Yuka Mabuchi decides to return to the competition for the first time in five years in September 2021.
The trigger was the words of the top athletes I met during the interview. “I decide my life myself”. Mabuchi came to think that he would like to try diving once more as he struggled to reach his goal without being bound by stereotypes.
“I will dive in on my own initiative. I’m sure this is what I left behind and I’ve always wanted.
You say, “Love is good at things.” I always want my child to do what he likes. But I wasn’t. I always felt “I don’t want to do it” and felt a strong complex with the fact that I was diving.
I was reluctant to do it. He was just being killed. But now I thought I might compete without that complex. “
However, my situation is completely different from when I was in college, where I was able to concentrate on just one competition. “Is it possible to continue as an athlete even with two children?” He thought regarding it first.
“When I told my family regarding my feelings and consulted with them, they pushed me back, saying,’If you have something left to do, you should do it.’
