Rachel Andres’s Story: Discus Thrower and Mom of Two Aims for the 2024 Canadian Olympic Team
Rachel Andres. Photo by Darcy Friesen
Name: Rachel Andres
Sport: Track & Field – Discus
Location: Olds, Alberta, Canada
Profession: Club JD Administrator, Stay at Home Mom to two kids, Freelance Graphic Designer
Age: 36
Website: www.rachelandres.ca
Instagram: rachelandres_discus
Basketball was my first love, and I'd spend hours throwing a small basketball up at a 10-foot goal trying to get a basket. At three years old, I remember finally getting a basket with a full-size basketball and having a huge celebration. It was at age three that I set the goal for myself to one day make it to the Olympics. I tried multiple sports, finding a new love in track and field with the javelin, shot put, and discus at the age of nine.
As an adult, I continue to compete because I love the fitness that sports and competition requires. I love being able to coach and pass on knowledge to my athletes. And I use sports as an example to my children and my athletes to keep in shape and keep doing what you love, even when the craziness of life gets in the way. My husband is my biggest supporter, followed by my parents and family. My husband’s support makes the continued pursuit of my athletics possible.
Rachel Andres at 2023 St. Albert Competition
Photo by Darcy Friesen
Being a mom and being an athlete at the same time has been my biggest challenge. And being a mom is 24/7. I have had to learn how to train smarter rather than harder. My training has adjusted to work around my kids and nursing and lack of sleep.
It’s those challenges that also make the process so rewarding. Being an athlete at the level I’m at, and with kids, has been inspiring others to continue to train and compete. Too many female athletes have been told they are done once they have kids. Those with a passion for the sport will often come back after the kids are older and lose many years of training. I have been able to show other moms and moms to be that it is hard, but possible. Similarly, Melina Robert-Michon inspires me. She is a discus thrower from France who is still throwing at an elite level at age 43. Sports federations tend to think that athletes have peaked after age 25, at most 30. She is showing everyone is wrong. And I want to be just like her.
I am heavily involved in a strength sport, and I also lift weights frequently. My athletic body doesn't fit into any normal range. I have wide, powerful shoulders, long muscular arms, wide hips, and thick quads. My calves don't fit into the thighs of jeans. I wear men’s sizes for shoes. When you see me, I look lighter than I actually am. I'm 5' 11" and look like 165 lbs. when I'm actually 188 lbs. I have become a role model for many high school aged girls. These girls are told that to be pretty and accepted, they need to be in small jeans and be passive. I'm showing these girls that it's OK to not fit into feminine roles while still being all woman and a mom at the same time.
The most recent worst moment of my athletic career was missing out on the 2021 Olympics because of a COVID shutdown in our province during peaking month. I halted at #34 in the world and couldn't make up the lost ground during that month when we weren't allowed to compete. Top 32 is what it took to make the Olympics.
Rachel Andres. Photo by Rob Hislop Photography
But there are also a lot of best moments to choose from. My most recent best moment was competing at the Canadian Track and Field Nationals in 2022, just two months after my baby girl was born. I took home silver while still having a massive gap in my core caused by the post-baby uterine compression that the midwife did to stop me from hemorrhaging. (My medical team thought my body was just being very efficient, but it was better to be on the safe side.)
My biggest goal is to make the Canadian Olympic Team with secondary goals of making more Canadian National Teams. And now that I have entered the Masters age groups, many Canadian and World Records in this age group are there for the breaking. Most recently, I broke the World Record in the Throws Pentathlon in 2023. I want to leave my name in as many record books as I can.
Rachel Andres. Photo by Rob Hislop Photography
The Olympic goal has always been there. The timing of that goal has just changed over time. And I didn't used to want to break records as much as I just wanted to hit a personal best at every competition. While still also wanting to create a new personal best every competition, even coming close to that personal best now usually breaks records so it is fun to do both.
Success in my sport comes from a mastery of the most technical form found in track and field combined with speed, power, and strength. For me personally to be successful, I must be a continual student of the sport. I set up yearlong training programs fashioned around four-year cycles. I study other throwers and learn new elements on an almost daily basis. I train the most crucial elements, what I call the primary areas first, and then prioritize secondary areas in order around what life throws at me. Some days that means doing three workouts all split up because the baby needs to nurse or is fussy. Other days, my workout changes entirely to fit what my body needs that day. To be more successful, I would need to be able to train uninterrupted by my children. This will eventually happen, but not in the next couple of years.
Sports will change your life and give you new opportunities and a new family that you can always count on to be there for you. Your body will love the challenges and there is nothing like the feeling of completing a workout and setting a new personal best.
Rachel’s story comes to us as part of the Thigh Flasher Series: short stories, anecdotes, and other pieces of wisdom by competitive sportswomen. We’re seeking more participants! Share your sport story and encourage others to share theirs, too.
