Sonia O'Sullivan is just one of a long line of female athletes who have had to come back to the track after giving birth. And none of them have suffered as a result. In fact, experts say that following pregnancy the female body is better able to cope with the additional demands of hard training and many runners have improved their times following the births of their children.

In modern times, Scottish long-distance runner Liz McColgan made an improvement after the birth of her daughter while Norwegian marathon world record holder Ingrid Christensen did the same.

The first high-profile account, however, is probably that of Fanny Blankers Koen. When the Olympic Games resumed in 1948 after a 12-year break, the Dutch athlete had given birth to two children and was 30 years old. Despite a number of critics who said she would not be a contender, Fanny went on to win gold medals in the 100 metres, the 80 metres hurdles, the 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay. Out of the nine female track and field events featured in the 1948 Games, the mother of two won four of them. Had she entered the long jump it would probably have been five since the winning jump was 20 inches shorter than Fanny's world record.