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The case of Canadian boxer Mandy Bujold also highlighted the unique circumstances facing female athletes with families. Bujold's Olympic qualifying tournament was canceled due to the pandemic, and she was either pregnant or on maternity leave for the tournaments that ended up deciding the Olympic rankings. The IOC denied her request to have her pre-pregnancy ranking recognized, though Bujold won an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and will be competing in Tokyo. The IOC had said in a statement that as a result, it may have to \"make decisions that would prove detrimental to other athletes,\" though accepted her entry \"as a matter of exception.\"

These situations, though spawned by unprecedented circumstances, only further highlight the challenges parenting athletes face, Axelson said.

\"The circumstances for this year certainly add an extra layer of scrutiny and complexity to it, but it's a challenge that athletes who are parents, or breastfeeding moms, they will face every year regardless of whether or not we are enduring a global pandemic,\" she said. \"They're still a parent, they still have to figure out how to train and compete with a child.\"

Earlier this month, the Women's Sports Foundation and Athleta announced a program that commits $200,000 to help fund child care costs for professional mom-athletes who are traveling to competitions. The first recipients of the Power of She Fund: Child Care Grant, who will each get $10,000, include six athletes headed to the Tokyo Olympics.

\"Parenthood should not be the barrier to athletic participation or athletic success,\" Axelson said.

For Cooky, it's challenging to talk about progress in gender equality when women are sometimes subjected to \"problematic dynamics as a part of their participation,\" such as abuse.

Between the Rio and Tokyo Olympics came allegations of sexual abuse against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar from dozens of girls and women. Nassar pleaded guilty in 2017 in a case that made international headlines as prominent gymnasts, like gold medalist Aly Raisman, read emotional statements during sentencing. Basketball's world governing body, FIBA, is currently investigating allegations of systemic sexual abuse of female players in Mali, as first reported by The New York Times.

\"Women's sports have made some important strides over the last 40, 50 years, but at the same time, there's a lot of challenges and discrimination and inequality and abuse,\" she said. \"We have to take those into account as well, because otherwise we're not telling the complete story.\"

Editor's note: This article has been updated to specify the Power of She Fund grant.

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