A third trip to the Olympics was far from a sure thing for U.S. volleyball star Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson when she gave birth to her son in November 2019.

A challenging pregnancy that robbed her of most of her core strength left her questioning whether she could get back to her usual elite level. But Gunderson had set a goal of being both a mother and professional athlete and took advantage of the delayed Olympics to make it back again this year in search of that elusive gold medal.

“I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have doubts, but at the same time, the player I am, I just always believe that whatever I put my mind to, it’s going to happen,” she said. “It was a goal and aspiration of mine and I was going to do whatever it took to make that happen. But, yeah, there were many moments along the way where I just thought maybe it wasn’t for me.”

Gunderson developed a severe case of diastasis recti during her pregnancy, which left a 9-centimeter separation of her “six-pack” muscles in her stomach that was big enough for a fist to fit through.