The Michael Knowles Show - July 11, 2021


Competing Pregnant & Choosing Life over Olympic Dreams ｜ Lindsay Flach


Episode Stats

Length

12 minutes

Words per Minute

190.82549

Word Count

2,324

Sentence Count

174

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

Lindsay Flock became the first pregnant woman to compete in the Olympic Trials in the heptathlon at the age of 18 weeks pregnant with her first child, a son. She beat three non-pregnant women in the event.


Transcript

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00:00:37.040 When I was in high school,
00:00:38.680 I struggled to run the mile in gym class.
00:00:42.400 I think I made it every time, but barely.
00:00:45.560 You know, I ran a competitive 15-minute mile,
00:00:48.980 sometimes 16 or 17 minutes.
00:00:51.860 Lindsay Flock just competed in the heptathlon,
00:00:56.900 the Olympic trials,
00:00:59.160 that obviously impressive enough, shocking.
00:01:02.080 She did it while 18 weeks pregnant,
00:01:04.600 so I now, I feel that I have absolutely no way
00:01:09.560 to relate in any way to this sort of accomplishment,
00:01:12.640 but there are many aspects of this story
00:01:14.160 that are so impressive.
00:01:14.920 The athletic aspect, the political aspect,
00:01:17.960 it's just, at a time when there are so many
00:01:20.360 unpleasant stories coming out of the news
00:01:23.160 and especially out of the Olympics,
00:01:24.840 I was just elated.
00:01:26.820 And so I'm very pleased to be joined by Lindsay Flock.
00:01:29.140 Lindsay, thank you for being here.
00:01:31.460 Thank you for having me.
00:01:33.060 So is the secret,
00:01:34.340 would I have done better in high school
00:01:35.720 had I been pregnant?
00:01:36.900 Does that make it,
00:01:37.820 it makes it easier to run or no?
00:01:39.260 I would not say that.
00:01:43.060 This is a really stunning feat.
00:01:47.080 I mean, I'm real,
00:01:47.580 I just had my first son,
00:01:49.320 well, I didn't have my son,
00:01:50.320 but my wife just had our first son.
00:01:52.760 And, you know,
00:01:53.620 at various parts in that pregnancy,
00:01:55.180 you can barely get out of bed,
00:01:56.620 one feels sick,
00:01:57.680 you know,
00:01:57.940 it's kind of hard to move around.
00:01:59.380 And you did one of the most difficult
00:02:02.200 athletic events that you can possibly do.
00:02:04.620 Can you just take us through
00:02:05.500 a little bit of that process?
00:02:06.500 I mean, presumably you did not plan
00:02:08.900 your pregnancy to coincide
00:02:11.080 with the Olympic trials.
00:02:15.240 Congratulations on your son.
00:02:16.780 This is actually my first.
00:02:18.300 We did not necessarily plan
00:02:22.320 to be pregnant at the Olympic trials.
00:02:24.920 With COVID happening and everything last year,
00:02:27.420 I truly believe that the Olympics
00:02:29.760 were not going to happen this year
00:02:30.960 just because of the postponement
00:02:32.380 from last year.
00:02:33.620 And so we just said,
00:02:35.160 okay, we'll see what happens.
00:02:36.900 I was actually very sick
00:02:38.240 in the very beginning.
00:02:40.040 So if it was probably three weeks prior,
00:02:41.920 I probably wouldn't have been
00:02:43.480 at the Olympic trials.
00:02:45.200 But I actually started to feel really good.
00:02:47.200 And so I was just like,
00:02:48.540 well, I can do this.
00:02:49.640 It's something my body's used to.
00:02:51.380 But it's not as though
00:02:51.860 you just wake up one day and say,
00:02:53.000 okay, I'm going to run a heptathlon.
00:02:54.220 Obviously there's some training involved here.
00:02:56.560 So, you know,
00:02:57.460 you were sort of down for the count
00:02:59.540 during the weeks leading up
00:03:02.580 to running at the trial.
00:03:04.140 I should point out, by the way,
00:03:05.160 you beat three people.
00:03:06.820 You beat three non-pregnant women
00:03:09.120 in the heptathlon.
00:03:12.660 Yes, I tried to do as much training
00:03:14.740 as I possibly could
00:03:16.140 leading up into the trials.
00:03:17.940 And then we literally just took it
00:03:19.360 day by day,
00:03:20.020 hour by hour
00:03:20.900 to see what events.
00:03:22.320 And I'm so glad I was able
00:03:23.480 to make it through all of them.
00:03:24.800 Now, there is a little bit
00:03:26.160 of a political dimension here as well,
00:03:27.900 which is,
00:03:28.720 and it seems ghastly,
00:03:30.160 like you wouldn't,
00:03:31.700 I guess nothing surprises anyone
00:03:33.080 these days,
00:03:33.720 but there have been cases,
00:03:35.640 including in the Olympics,
00:03:36.740 where women found out
00:03:38.420 they were pregnant,
00:03:39.300 but they still wanted to compete.
00:03:40.740 And they would get an abortion
00:03:42.160 because they would choose
00:03:42.960 the Olympics over having a child.
00:03:46.060 And you did not do that.
00:03:49.240 You very, very courageously
00:03:51.100 wouldn't do that.
00:03:52.220 But then you,
00:03:53.200 you didn't give up
00:03:54.320 the Olympics either.
00:03:55.380 You kind of,
00:03:55.740 you somehow,
00:03:56.240 or the Olympic trials rather,
00:03:57.160 you somehow just managed
00:03:58.160 to do both.
00:04:00.940 Yes, I knew that
00:04:02.460 I could be capable of,
00:04:03.520 I knew I wasn't going to be
00:04:04.460 at the potential
00:04:06.360 that I was 18 weeks
00:04:07.920 or even probably 12 weeks before
00:04:09.640 because I actually did do
00:04:10.680 three meets pretty well
00:04:12.520 for myself
00:04:13.480 in my weeks four through six
00:04:15.940 being pregnant.
00:04:17.280 But that was definitely
00:04:18.180 not an option for us.
00:04:20.860 So you,
00:04:21.960 I mean, presumably
00:04:22.780 you're looking at 2020,
00:04:25.540 2020 gets postponed
00:04:26.820 because of the lockdowns.
00:04:28.680 Then it's 2021.
00:04:30.460 And this is the last chance.
00:04:32.500 I mean, you're,
00:04:33.100 you're not,
00:04:34.000 you had already made
00:04:34.920 that decision, correct?
00:04:36.080 You were not going to compete
00:04:37.220 the next go around.
00:04:39.440 Correct.
00:04:40.740 So, so what is that process like?
00:04:42.720 You've been training
00:04:43.320 at this thing.
00:04:43.980 I mean, look,
00:04:44.420 I'm not exactly the most
00:04:45.480 Adonis of a fella here.
00:04:47.260 So I,
00:04:47.640 but presumably you've been
00:04:48.820 training at this thing
00:04:49.880 your entire life.
00:04:50.840 This is a very
00:04:51.660 specialized skill
00:04:53.340 for, you know,
00:04:54.760 effectively the height
00:04:55.980 of athletic achievement.
00:04:57.400 And then,
00:04:58.400 and then it's just over
00:04:59.460 and then you got to
00:05:00.300 do something else.
00:05:03.040 Yes.
00:05:03.580 And that's,
00:05:04.660 what's crazy
00:05:05.160 because in January of 2020,
00:05:06.680 I actually left,
00:05:08.060 um,
00:05:08.280 it was my fiance at the time.
00:05:09.560 Um,
00:05:09.880 we hadn't gotten married yet,
00:05:10.820 but I had left him.
00:05:11.860 I had left my job.
00:05:13.480 Um,
00:05:13.720 I had moved three hours away
00:05:15.620 and like gave up everything
00:05:17.400 to like completely focus
00:05:19.100 on the 2020 Olympics trials
00:05:20.920 and then hopefully the Olympics.
00:05:22.560 And when it all kind of
00:05:23.920 shifted away from that,
00:05:26.200 um,
00:05:26.620 I just knew this was
00:05:27.740 my third Olympic trials.
00:05:29.140 Um,
00:05:29.700 this chapter at some point
00:05:31.300 needed to come to an end,
00:05:32.440 which is really hard
00:05:33.160 for athletes to give up.
00:05:34.600 Um,
00:05:34.820 and so we finally just decided,
00:05:36.380 okay,
00:05:37.060 um,
00:05:37.820 let's just end one chapter
00:05:40.460 and begin the other,
00:05:41.580 however that goes about.
00:05:43.860 And,
00:05:44.220 um,
00:05:45.560 I don't think that part
00:05:46.660 has actually hit me
00:05:47.500 because of what happened
00:05:49.060 at the trials.
00:05:50.540 Right.
00:05:51.560 Because I,
00:05:52.240 I love this idea.
00:05:54.040 We go through chapters
00:05:55.600 in our lives.
00:05:56.360 You,
00:05:56.820 you know,
00:05:57.060 you don't get to stay
00:05:57.660 in high school forever.
00:05:58.640 You don't get to stay
00:05:59.420 in college forever.
00:06:00.320 You don't get to pursue
00:06:02.220 your professional sporting event
00:06:03.940 forever.
00:06:04.480 You don't,
00:06:05.180 you don't get to pursue
00:06:05.940 your career forever.
00:06:06.660 You know,
00:06:06.820 these things are discreet.
00:06:08.200 And it was so distressing
00:06:09.380 when I read a story
00:06:10.120 of one woman
00:06:10.900 who,
00:06:11.240 who had had an abortion
00:06:12.580 just basically to continue
00:06:13.740 to compete in the Olympics.
00:06:15.020 I thought,
00:06:15.720 oh my gosh,
00:06:16.500 you're giving up
00:06:17.320 the most important thing
00:06:19.180 in your life,
00:06:19.720 which will,
00:06:20.200 which will define
00:06:20.860 the rest of your life.
00:06:21.860 You're giving that up
00:06:23.240 for this really time limited thing.
00:06:25.700 It's obviously competing
00:06:26.600 at the Olympics.
00:06:27.080 It's extraordinarily impressive,
00:06:28.620 but that's only going to be
00:06:30.540 a few years.
00:06:31.240 And then you're,
00:06:32.060 you're giving up all the rest.
00:06:33.140 So how did you,
00:06:33.960 how did you have the foresight?
00:06:35.220 I mean,
00:06:35.360 I know a lot of athletes
00:06:36.920 who are just,
00:06:38.520 just even being
00:06:39.180 that competitive mindset
00:06:40.260 are really only looking
00:06:41.420 at the near term.
00:06:43.940 And it's hard as an athlete.
00:06:45.560 And for us,
00:06:46.360 we had just decided
00:06:47.460 like that was never
00:06:48.660 going to be an option
00:06:49.440 for us.
00:06:50.540 We,
00:06:51.240 it's hard.
00:06:52.440 Like,
00:06:52.660 I mean,
00:06:52.980 we got into the doctor's office
00:06:54.880 at eight weeks.
00:06:56.020 We heard the heartbeat.
00:06:57.120 It's,
00:06:57.460 there's a very defined baby there.
00:07:00.400 And so we've just decided
00:07:01.880 like that that's more important
00:07:03.540 because of our life
00:07:04.880 down the road.
00:07:05.640 And that's what we truly want.
00:07:07.200 And it,
00:07:07.540 it does like athletic career
00:07:09.420 has to come to an end.
00:07:10.580 Mine on the track
00:07:11.440 has come to an end,
00:07:12.240 but I'm still going to go out there
00:07:13.460 and train
00:07:14.540 and be a healthy lifestyle.
00:07:16.240 So.
00:07:17.300 That eight week appointment
00:07:18.500 is a pretty big one.
00:07:19.480 When it happened for us,
00:07:21.020 it was also during the lockdowns
00:07:22.520 and they had the audacity
00:07:23.840 to tell me
00:07:24.920 that I couldn't go
00:07:25.420 to any of the appointments beforehand.
00:07:26.640 But then,
00:07:26.920 you know,
00:07:27.100 you go to that,
00:07:27.860 that first one really
00:07:28.980 where you can kind of
00:07:29.800 hear the heartbeat
00:07:30.500 and you just realize,
00:07:32.280 oh my goodness.
00:07:33.040 And especially when you,
00:07:33.940 when you then get the ultrasound,
00:07:35.160 if it's a 3D ultrasound,
00:07:36.520 even more so,
00:07:37.540 where you think,
00:07:38.140 oh,
00:07:38.740 this is a person.
00:07:40.960 Even now,
00:07:41.440 my little son,
00:07:42.160 he's always got his hands.
00:07:43.320 He looks like a little Irish boxer.
00:07:45.260 You know,
00:07:45.440 he looks like gangs of New York style.
00:07:46.900 His hands are always up by his face.
00:07:48.120 And we never got a good ultrasound
00:07:49.800 because he was always doing that
00:07:51.160 in the womb as well.
00:07:52.100 And you have this stunning realization.
00:07:54.080 Oh yeah,
00:07:54.880 the baby that's right.
00:07:56.320 That was the same thing
00:07:57.620 that was inside his mother
00:07:59.160 10 weeks ago,
00:08:00.180 20 weeks ago.
00:08:01.940 Yes,
00:08:02.340 we actually have that one,
00:08:04.320 the anatomy scan,
00:08:05.320 the 3D on Friday.
00:08:06.980 So I'm really excited
00:08:07.860 because we haven't had one
00:08:08.960 since eight weeks.
00:08:09.800 So that'll be the next one.
00:08:11.780 So what,
00:08:12.340 what is the feeling now?
00:08:14.100 You've come down
00:08:14.640 from this incredible high
00:08:16.040 performing extraordinarily well
00:08:19.460 at the Olympic trials.
00:08:20.600 Now that's it.
00:08:21.760 That's the end of that career.
00:08:23.240 Was there any moment,
00:08:24.280 was there any moment of kind of let down,
00:08:27.760 depression even to say,
00:08:29.920 now that phase of my life is over
00:08:31.580 or no,
00:08:32.060 just right into the next thing?
00:08:34.220 Right before the 800,
00:08:35.560 when the cameras that were on me,
00:08:36.900 I think it kind of hit me hard
00:08:38.640 before the gun went off.
00:08:39.880 I did almost start to tear up then,
00:08:42.020 but it was so fast into the gun
00:08:43.800 that that had finished.
00:08:45.520 But ever since then,
00:08:46.980 I've just been back to work.
00:08:48.540 I coach athletes,
00:08:49.920 both youth and adults.
00:08:52.400 And so it's just been jumped
00:08:53.980 right into that.
00:08:55.380 And I think after the baby,
00:08:57.640 it might hit me a little bit harder
00:08:59.040 just for the fact of like,
00:09:01.180 there's so much going on right now,
00:09:03.300 being still sick a little bit,
00:09:05.280 body changing,
00:09:06.480 exhaustion.
00:09:08.460 But when I actually can step back
00:09:10.100 on the track,
00:09:10.620 I think it'll hit me
00:09:11.420 a little bit harder.
00:09:12.880 Because there was,
00:09:13.420 there was one race
00:09:15.240 that you did have to step off the track
00:09:17.680 because basically it was so hot outside.
00:09:20.820 You feared for your health
00:09:22.580 and the health of your baby.
00:09:24.560 Yeah.
00:09:24.960 So in the 800,
00:09:26.580 I only ran 100 meters of it
00:09:28.100 and stepped off.
00:09:28.740 And that was the last event
00:09:29.600 in the head.
00:09:30.140 And the reason for that
00:09:31.400 is it was Saturday after the 200.
00:09:33.160 I actually did end up
00:09:34.280 in the medical tent
00:09:34.980 because it was so hot.
00:09:36.620 We were trying to get me rehydrated.
00:09:38.960 And so we just didn't want
00:09:39.860 to take that chance,
00:09:40.780 especially with Sunday being
00:09:42.160 so much hotter
00:09:43.060 than Saturday was.
00:09:44.860 Right, right.
00:09:45.560 And that's even at another level,
00:09:47.600 this moment.
00:09:48.120 Okay, you're there,
00:09:49.020 you're on the field,
00:09:49.720 you're doing it,
00:09:51.140 you're on the track rather.
00:09:52.120 And then,
00:09:52.860 but no,
00:09:53.460 I can't take this risk.
00:09:54.580 There's something more important here
00:09:56.320 even than how well I run.
00:09:59.020 Yes.
00:09:59.480 And I am stubborn
00:10:00.540 and my husband and coach
00:10:01.940 were in the stands
00:10:02.800 and they really didn't think
00:10:04.460 I would walk off the track.
00:10:05.820 They thought I would continue
00:10:07.440 and finish it.
00:10:08.500 So.
00:10:09.800 What I feel is so inspiring
00:10:12.180 about this whole story
00:10:13.340 is obviously you're a top athlete,
00:10:16.560 obviously,
00:10:16.920 but that you've got
00:10:18.480 all the priorities in order.
00:10:20.660 And I know a lot of people
00:10:21.600 these days think
00:10:22.220 you've just got to pick.
00:10:23.540 You've either got to pick
00:10:24.520 your personal life
00:10:25.320 or your professional life
00:10:26.280 or you've got to pick
00:10:27.140 having a family
00:10:28.060 or doing well in your career.
00:10:29.440 You got to pick this
00:10:30.180 or you got to,
00:10:30.780 and that really,
00:10:32.380 in my experience,
00:10:33.060 is not the case.
00:10:33.820 These things kind of work together.
00:10:35.980 And if you flourish
00:10:36.700 in one area of your life,
00:10:37.840 you're going to flourish
00:10:38.560 in all of the other areas.
00:10:40.300 And I tell you,
00:10:41.140 I look around
00:10:41.700 at professional athletes
00:10:43.340 and really people
00:10:45.100 in other fields, too.
00:10:46.240 And I don't see
00:10:47.680 that kind of a sensible attitude
00:10:49.320 that you've demonstrated.
00:10:51.300 Yes.
00:10:51.580 And I think that's what
00:10:52.400 a lot of people don't understand
00:10:53.560 is they can do both.
00:10:55.580 In any career,
00:10:56.540 it doesn't have to just be athletics.
00:10:57.920 They can be a mom.
00:10:59.060 They can be pregnant.
00:11:00.160 They can still continue
00:11:01.580 their career.
00:11:02.680 Yes,
00:11:03.020 there will be different changes,
00:11:04.380 but there's always obstacle.
00:11:06.180 There's always struggles
00:11:06.880 that everyone has to go through
00:11:08.020 in life,
00:11:08.400 whether you're pregnant or not.
00:11:09.780 Right.
00:11:10.140 That's true.
00:11:10.620 And there are some payoffs
00:11:12.000 there as well,
00:11:12.620 as you're going to find out.
00:11:13.560 You've still got a bit of pregnancy
00:11:14.600 to go through, I think.
00:11:16.080 So, Lindsay,
00:11:17.140 where can people find you?
00:11:18.460 Unless right now you say,
00:11:20.260 I'm done with that.
00:11:21.520 No one should follow me at all.
00:11:22.860 I'm going into private life.
00:11:25.300 I'm on Instagram
00:11:26.220 at lcschwartz22.
00:11:28.040 You can find me there.
00:11:29.260 I am going to continue
00:11:30.400 to share my story
00:11:31.360 from here on out.
00:11:32.740 I've been kind of shy
00:11:34.060 in the public eye.
00:11:35.240 I didn't used to like pictures,
00:11:37.120 but all the people
00:11:38.620 that women, men
00:11:39.980 have shared their stories with me,
00:11:42.160 I truly want to keep inspiring
00:11:44.500 and I will continue
00:11:45.220 to share on that platform.
00:11:46.620 That's great.
00:11:47.000 That's really,
00:11:47.600 really inspiring stuff.
00:11:48.600 I still would not run against you
00:11:50.340 even at 20 weeks pregnant.
00:11:51.800 Call me when you're about
00:11:52.920 37 weeks pregnant
00:11:55.240 and then I think I may,
00:11:57.000 I'll say I was able
00:11:58.420 to run faster
00:12:00.040 than one of the top athletes.
00:12:01.180 But frankly,
00:12:01.680 maybe not even then.
00:12:02.680 Maybe not even then.
00:12:04.080 Deal, deal.
00:12:05.400 Lindsay, great to be with you.
00:12:06.400 Lindsay Flock,
00:12:06.800 thank you so much
00:12:07.620 for joining us.
00:12:08.260 Thank you so much
00:12:09.900 for having me.
00:12:10.440 Thank you.