Olympian Moms Heading to London

We fell in love with the Thank You, Mom video from P&G. Who didn’t have a tear come down their face? I spoke with Kerri Walsh this spring about how her own mother is the rock of her family. Now, P&G has taken it a step further in their love and respect of moms of athletes. This May they presented $1000 Visa gift card to EVERY mom of a USA 2012 Olympian & Paraolympian to help them offset the cost of traveling to the games this summer. “We believe that behind every athlete is an even more amazing mom – who has been supporting her child every step of the way,” said Jodi Allen, P&G Vice President, North America Operations and Marketing, and herself a mother of four.

On the day of this tremendous announcement I got a chance to chat with a number of the moms and athletes. Through a phone conference, I asked the moms when they realized that they had an exceptional athletic child. My older daughter is very athletic, but how do I know if she’s an olympian, I wondered. A few of the mothers explained that, you just know. You see their determination. Their interests in a particular sport.

These mothers have been the #1 cheerleaders of their athletes since their first practice. They have gotten up early to get to the game. Spent money they may barely have had to be sure their child had the proper equipment. They sacrificed other times and moments to be there with their aspiring olympian. It all paid off. Big time. This summer thousands of men and women from across the globe will head to London to compete the the world’s greatest athletic competition, the Olympics. The athletes have their airfare paid for by their respective country, but the athlete’s mother is on her own. Thanks to P&G the mother of Team USA know that they too will be there. THANK YOU P&G for acknowledging important role mothers have made in the success of each athlete in Team USA!