USATF Foundation Awards Three Maternity Grants to Betsy Saina, Elle St. Pierre and Amy Davis-Green

PITTSBURGH, PA — The USATF Foundation is proud to support three inspiring women with maternity grants to help empower their return to competition as they navigate pregnancy and postpartum recovery.  Balancing bottles and starting blocks, sleepless nights and starting lines, the journey of a mother-athlete is one of the sport’s greatest challenges. Betsy Saina, Elle St. Pierre, and Amy Davis-Green have demonstrated resilience and competitive success while balancing the demands of motherhood and professional athletics. 

Betsy Saina is one of the fastest American marathoners in history. Saina, a long-distance specialist, won the 2023 Sydney Marathon in 2:26:47 and achieved a personal best of 2:19:17 at the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, finishing 5th, a performance that ranks her as the third-fastest American woman ever. She also won the 2024 USA 25K Road Championships, setting a new women-only U.S. record for the distance. 

Betsy, whose newest son is now three weeks old, reflects on her comeback journey saying, “When I had my first son, I decided to do things my own way. I was like I’m going to see what works because the biggest thing is listening to my body and that’s what I did. I took my sweet time, started with walking and exercise, and I started the process taking it one day at a time, and I was really surprised the way it came together when I ran my personal best for the marathon.” 

From that experience, Betsy offers encouragement to other women navigating parenthood and elite competition. “My biggest message to other mothers or aspiring athletes is—don’t fear starting a family. A lot of people take that fear and say, ‘I don’t want to have a baby because who knows, that could be the end of my career.’ Being a big example of this, I encourage everyone to have your family but take your time coming back. Don’t do what other people are doing, because everybody is different. Recognize that everyone is different, even from one child to the next. So just take your time, listen to your body, and you’ll surprise yourself by coming back really strong.” 

The Maternity Grant will help Betsy to return home to Kenya and afford reliable childcare, allowing her to focus on recovery and training. “I have a goal to come back before the middle of next year to have a very good marathon!” She exclaimed.  

Elle St. Pierre is an elite middle and long-distance runner who has become a model for athletic comeback and maternal strength. After giving birth to her first son in 2023, she returned to competition in historic fashion breaking her own U.S. indoor mile record (4:16.41) at the Millrose Games. She later captured gold in the 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, setting both a championship record (8:20.87) and a North American record. 

Elle went on to win the U.S. 5000m title at the 2024 Olympic Trials with a Trials record of 14:40.34 and finished 8th in the 1500m final at the Paris Olympics, improving on her 10th-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Amy Davis-Green, currently seven months pregnant, is a dedicated long-distance runner, who ran a personal best of 53:36 at the USATF 10 Mile Championships while four weeks pregnant. She shared, “Honestly, I think this grant will give me the peace of mind to invest in strength training, pelvic floor therapy and little nuances I might not even be aware of. It gives me the ability and capacity to focus on these areas in ways I wouldn’t be able to otherwise.” 

As she looks ahead to her return, Davis-Green hopes to continue testing her limits. Sharing that her “desire to come back is to really capitalize on my gift and talent. I don’t yet know my full capability, but I look forward to wanting to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon and using this gift in a way that is honorable.”