Jana Pittman is currently putting herself to the test on SAS Australia, but she has been a recognizable figure for quite some time.
The hurdler is best remembered for her performances at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the Athens Olympics in 2004.
She won gold in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and Manchester, as well as the global championships in Osaka and Paris.
Jana is also the only Australian athlete to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, having competed in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia in the two-woman bobsled.
However, the athlete and now-doctor are most proud of her role as a mother.
“Although the sport has always been a part of my identity, my actual interest lies elsewhere. Jana noted on her website in 2017: “I am now immensely happy to share my life with three little Gold medals, with my wonderful children Cornelis, Emily, and Jemima.”
She now has four children, including baby Charles, whom she welcomed just months before embarking on SAS Australia and just days before passing her final medical exam.
Jana married her first husband, British hurdler Chris Rawlinson, in 2006.
Cornelis, her eldest son, is the son of Chris, who was also her coach.
The couple divorced in 2009, then reconnected the following year, renewing their vows as a married couple.
However, they separated again the following year.
Jana, who was a single mother at the time, still had a lot on her plate, including the 2014 Winter Olympics and her medical degree.
She was, nevertheless, eager to become a mother once more.
Emily, who was born in 2015, and Jemima, her second daughter, were both born thanks to an unidentified sperm donor.
On Sunrise in 2017, Jana discussed her decision to have children as a single mother.
She stated, “I didn’t want to go into a relationship knowing that I would wind up in a divorce again and have a custody issue with kids.”
She wanted her children to have another sibling after doing it for the first time, which led to her becoming a single mother of three.
Jana would later marry again, this time to Paul Gatward, a Sydney businessman.
She gave birth to Charlie a few months after their wedding.
“It’s gorgeous to watch how natural he is with Charlie,” Jana told Woman’s Day after the birth of her son.
“He already wants one more!” she divulged.
“Having four or five kids makes no difference to me, so maybe we will.” I currently drive a Kia Carnival, so we’re prepared – and I’ve always imagined myself with five children, so I’m prepared,” Jana stated.
“I think my parents and my career want this to be my last pregnancy, but I wouldn’t rule out another.”
Charlie’s delivery was tumultuous, with Jana working right up to the start of labor. She had delivered four babies in the 12 hours leading up to his birth, which was a week early.
“It threw me a bit,” she admitted.
Jana spent her time in labor to study, despite the fact that it seemed inconceivable that she could be much more motivated.
“They hooked me up to a baby monitor to measure my vitals in hospital and I studied during labor, before sitting the exam four days later,” Jana explained.
Dr. Pittman holds a Master of Reproductive Medicine.
Jana departed with Charlie when he was barely six months old to film SAS Australia. She chose to participate in the show in order to push herself and discover what she was truly capable of.
“I said yes since it was the most difficult. She told WHO, “It’s physical, but it’s also about mental fortitude.”
Jana’s post-pregnancy body presented even another obstacle, as she struggled with bladder control during the physical elements of the course. She did, however, use the opportunity to normalize the situation.
“I just pissed myself on that run, so that was embarrassing,” she says during episode three.
“Not intentionally, but women at home need to know that after you have a baby you don’t have a good pelvic floor.”