Olympics Come First For Jo Pavey

She is putting off having a second child in order to focus on the Olympic marathon.

After she finished 12th in the 10,000m event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, British long-distance runner Jo Pavey took the next year off to start a family. Her first son, Jacob, was born in September, 2009. Originally, the 37-year-old Pavey had planned to transition to the marathon in 2010, but decided, at that time, that her family came first and so she put her running plans on hold.

This Olympic cycle, Pavey’s priorities are reversed.

Though she admits wanting to have a second child, Pavey has decided to put those plans on hold in the hopes of winning an Olympic medal.

“At some stage I would love another child but running-wise the focus is 2012,” she said. “It is a big opportunity and not many athletes have a home Olympics in their career. So I will definitely be running for a bit longer and if I had a second child it wouldn’t be my retirement, if I am still running at a reasonable level then I will keep going.”

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