Former Olympic high jump champion Slesarenko is pregnant, will miss London Games
 |
| Former Olympic champion Yelena Slesarenko of Russia. (Picture Alliance) |
"It was such great news for me, really unexpected," announced Slesarenko on Thursday.
"Me and my husband had wanted to become parents after the 2008 Beijing Games but the Olympic competition took a lot out of me and I first had to take care of my injured body."
Slesarenko, who set a former national record of 2.06m to win the gold medal in Athens said she was still sad to miss out on the chance to qualify for her third Olympics after finishing fourth in Beijing four years ago.
"My good friend (2004 Olympic Games long jump champion) Tatyana Lebedeva, who was one of the first to get the news from me, had told me 'it's a luxury to become pregnant in the Olympic year because not every female athlete could afford it'," joked Slesarenko.
"Probably, I would have liked to have it like this: compete in London, win the gold, then have a baby, then come back and start training for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro."
Slesarenko added that she wanted to stay in the sport for at least four more years after giving birth and that she hoped to emulate her fellow Russian high jumper Anna Chicherova, who won at last year's World Championships after the birth of her first child in 2010.
"Her example really motivates me. We know each other very well because we used to train in the same group and I know how happy Anna was to become a mother and it had given her extra strength and emotion to come back into the sport. I hope I could do the same."
She has also twice won the world indoor title but has never got on the podium at a European championships, either indoors or outdoors, and also just missed out on a medal when finishing fourth at last summer's World Championships.
