Currently pregnant and expecting her first child this winter, Iceland women's national soccer team captain Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir has a dream. "I picture myself playing in England (at the UEFA Women's Euro in 2022) and after the game getting my baby in my arms with all the Icelandic fans in the stands. My mind is there, we will see if my body follows".
In April, Gunnarsdóttir, currently under contract at French side Olympique Lyonnais until June 2022, announced that she and her husband were expecting their first child and were returning to stay with her relatives in Iceland to carry her pregnancy to term. Last month, her sponsors PUMA revealed that in collaboration with media company COPA90 they would be releasing a series of monthly editorial pieces charting Gunnarsdóttir's pregnancy and comeback to play once again at the highest level culminating in a feature-length documentary to be shown next summer.
Directed by COPA90's Lawrence Tallis and Hannah Calverley, the documentary promises to offer "unprecedented, never-before-seen access into the life of a professional female athlete as she faces the challenge of returning to elite level sport after giving birth". It will document her training schedule and feature interviews with her family and team-mates and guidance from professional experts monitoring her progress and recovery post-pregnancy.
Speaking to Asif Burhan, Gunnarsdóttir revealed exactly why pregnancy was so demanding compared to anything she has encountered before.
"Physically, it's obviously been a challenge. I've always been in shape, I've always been in control of my body, how I train and how I rest, how I eat. Now, it's just so much more than me. I have to take care of the baby growing inside of me. It's been challenging trying to hold back with the training. There's changes in my body that I have no control of. That's maybe the most difficult one because I always had good control of my body and now I don't".
The full article appeared here.