21 Amazing Mom and Dad Olympic Moments

If longevity was an Olympic event, gymnast Oksana Chusovitina would certainly be in the running. She's competed in seven Olympic games, which is impressive for any athlete but downright astonishing when it comes to a sport usually reserved for teenagers like gymnastics. Her first medal, a gold for the team competition, came in 1992 with the unified team made up of former Soviet Union republics. She competed in the next three games with her native Uzbekistan, but after her 3-year-old son Alisher was diagnosed with leukemia in 2002, she moved with her family to Germany so he could receive treatment. In 2008, competing with the German team 16 years after her first Olympic medal, she won a silver in the vault competition. This year, as the 41-year-old mother of a teenage boy, she finished seventh in the Rio vault competition.

When Nur Suryani Mohamad Taibi entered the air rifle competition in London, not only was she the first woman to compete for Malaysia, but she did so at eight months pregnant. This made her the Olympic competitor furthest along in pregnancy ever, summer or winter games. While she said pregnancy brought some athletic benefits (apparently the extra weight helped her balance), it also had its drawbacks. The air rifle competition depends on careful, measured movements, which are made much more difficult by a kicking unborn baby. Nur Suryani tried to avoid such an event by praying and asking her child to be calm during the event.

Any story of Olympic parents starts with British 400 runner Derek Redmond and dad Jim. The story starts in Seoul 1988, when Derek hurt his Achilles tendon and withdrew from the race 10 minutes before it started. Five surgeries, four years and one pact with Jim (that he'd finish the race no matter what) later, he was ready for redemption. But then, with 175 meters to go in his semi-final heat of the 400, he heard a pop in his hamstring and fell to the track. After a few deep breaths, he got back up and started hobbling towards the finish line, determined to finish the race. As Derek limped, Jim raced through the audience and towards the track, eluding security guards as he put his arm around his son. Together, the two slowly made their way to the finish line, Derek sobbing on his father's shoulder the entire time.

The story of American gymnast Aly Raisman's nervous parents actually begins at the 2004 Olympics, when she sat watching the games with mom Lynn. When Lynn idly expressed relief that she'd never have to endure the agony of watching her child compete in the Olympics, an outraged Aly responded by informing her mother that she was, in fact, planning to go to the games. Eight years later, the joke was on Lynn and husband Rick. Their incredibly anxious reaction to Aly's bar routine was caught on television and went viral. Four more years later in Rio, the cameras were trained on Lynn and Rick throughout the entire meet—and the couple didn't disappoint.

Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette called mom Therese her best friend and biggest fan. When Therese died suddenly of a massive heart attack just two days before the Games, continuing on and competing was almost unimaginable. With the support of her father and longtime coach, though, she gathered her strength and skated to a bronze medal, which she dedicated to her mother. Joannie later told the media that she knew her mother would have been furious if she had withdrawn from the competition. During Therese's funeral, Joannie briefly placed her bronze medal on her mother's casket.

The story of South African 400 runner Wayde van Niekerk is a good one — in winning the race, he easily broke a 17-year-old world record — but his coach might be even more inspiring. Anna Botha is a 74-year-old great-grandmother of four, and called "Tannie Ans" (auntie) by her athletes. Despite her mature age, she's relatively new to the international coaching scene. With van Niekerk, she went to her first world championships in 2015, and her first Olympic Games in 2016. As the saying almost goes, you can definitely teach a great-grandmother new tricks.

No, it's not the punchline to a joke about curling: Canadian Kristie Moore competed in the Olympics while six months pregnant, and actually managed to win a silver medal with her team. While she wasn't the first pregnant competitor or medalist at a winter games — German Diana Sorter entered the skeleton at nine weeks pregnant in 2006 and Swedish figure skater Magda Julin took home a gold medal in 1920 while in her first trimester — she was definitely the furthest along.

Today, mothers who compete in the Olympics have one woman to thanks: Fanny Blankers-Koen, also known as The Flying Housewife. The Dutch runner was the most successful athlete at the 1948 games, taking home four gold medals. She was also 30 years old and mom to two, which, in an era where women's athletics were generally dismissed, was more or less unprecedented. She was named Woman Athlete of the 20th Century in 1999, and is widely credited for opening high-level sports to older women and mothers.

Widely known as the best speed skater in the world, American Dan Jansen was, after coming up without a medal in three straight Olympic Games, also widely known as the unluckiest. In the 1984 games, his best finish was fourth—just one place shy of a medal. Four years later, he was the gold medal favorite, but tragedy struck on the day of the races as his beloved sister Jane passed away from leukemia. In both of his races that day, he fell and failed to medal. Four years later, the streak continued when Jansen finished fourth in one race and fell in another, coming in only 26th. Finally, in 1994, he was down to two races in his last Olympic Games. In his first race, he was the gold medal favorite, but yet again, he fell. In his final race, he wasn't a favorite—seven skaters in the field had turned in faster times than he ever had. But Dan had the race of his life, and managed not only to win the gold medal, but also to set a new world record while doing so. In his victory lap after the medal ceremony, he skated around the ice holding his baby daughter, named Jane.

Growing up in the Bronx, American gymnast John Orozco's biggest supporter was his mother, Damaris. She supported him through his first Olympic games in 2012 (which were, by all accounts, disappointing for the American men) and two major injuries. After an extended battle with her health, however, she passed away in February of 2015. Just a few months later, he tore his Achilles tendon for a second time. His doctors said he needed a year to recover, but with the Olympics coming up, John simply didn't have time. He managed to get back to competition shape in eight months, and in June, was named to his second Olympic team. Afterwards, he gave a tearful interview in which he directly thanked his mother. Unfortunately, Orozco's story ends on a negative note: Just weeks after making the team, he tore his ACL for a second time, leaving him unable to compete in the games.

If you've watched American swimmer Michael Phelps win any one of his 28 Olympic medals, you've probably also seen the camera pan to his ecstatic mother Debbie after the race. She's been just as constant a fixture as Michael over the last five summer games. Michael was just nine years old when Debbie divorced his father. After that, Debbie raised Michael and his two older sisters as a single mother. The story came full circle at the Rio games, reportedly Michael's last Olympics, where Debbie watched his races with his fiancee and infant son Boomer. This time, when the camera panned to Michael's family for a reaction after his races, a sleeping Boomer, protected from the crowd's noise by huge earphones, stole the show.

German archer Cornelia Pfohl did the incredible twice: In 2000, she won a bronze medal with her team while in the early stages of her first pregnancy. Four years later, at age 33, Cornelia again competed at the Olympics, this time at seven months pregnant. It's easy to wonder just how athletic a sport that a woman in her third trimester of pregnancy could be, but just imagine remember, over the course of the Olympics, women must shoot at least 100 arrows. It may not be the 100-meter hurdles, but it's certainly not a walk around the block.

At this point, most Olympic viewers know that basics of American gymnast Simone Biles' family life, but here's a quick refresher: Her mother struggled with addiction, so from the age of two, Simone has lived with her grandfather Ron and his wife Nellie. In 2001, when Simone was six years old, she and her sister were officially adopted, and Grandma and Grandpa became Mom and Dad. Simple … except, as it turns out, not simple enough for NBC sportscaster Al Trautwig. The gymnastics commentator repeatedly referred to Simone's parents as "her grandfather and his wife" on air, and later defended his actions on Twitter by saying, "They may be mom and dad but they are NOT her parents." The best response came from Simone herself, who told Us Weekly, "My parents are my parents and that's it."

It's hard to say which of British equestrian Zara Phillips Tindall's lineages is more impressive: She's both granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth and the daughter of two Olympic horseback riders. These heritages came together at the London Olympics in 2012, when Zara won a silver medal with the British team. Not only was Zara the first royal Olympic medalist, she also had the unusual honor of being presented with her medal by her mother, Princess Anne, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee. When putting the silver medal around her daughter's neck, Princess Anne forwent the handshake she exchanged with Zara's teammates and instead gave her a kiss on each cheek.

When watching American gymnast Danell Leyva compete, it can be hard to avoid getting distracted by the excitable man near the event who is jumping around, shouting in Spanish, and even mimicking Danell's routines from the ground. Towards the end of the routine, the man starts a slow clap that increases in speed, catching on with the entire crowd as Danell prepares for his dismount. That's just who Yin Alvarez (Danell's stepfather and coach) is. Yin followed his dream of opening his own gym from Cuba to the United States, swimming across the Rio Grande in 1992. Danell says that even though some people think his stepdad's antics are embarrassing, he finds them inspiring and energizing.

It's hard to know where to start with Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze. At age 47, she's in her eight Olympics — only the second athlete in history to appear in as many games. In her illustrious career, she's won three Olympic medals … so far. To make her story even more compelling, in Rio she also will become the first woman ever to compete in a games alongside her son. Tsotne Machavariani is 18 years old and in his first games. Nino, who is also her son's coach and mentor, says she's more nervous for Tsotne than she is for herself.

American gymnast Nastia Liukin's story started long before she was born. In the 1988 Seoul Olympics, her father Valeri won four medals with the Soviet Union team. Two of those were gold, though he lost first place in the coveted all-around competition to a teammate by just a tenth of a point. The year before, Nastia's mother Anna (née Kotchneva) had won the world championships in rhythmic gymnastics. Nastia, who grew up in in Texas after her parents immigrated to the United States, was seemingly bred to be a champion. She inherited both her father's daredevil spirit and her mother's graceful nature, and in 2008 extended and improved on the family legacy by taking home the gold medal in the all-around competition. Valeri, who also served as her coach, said Nastia "fixed his mistake."

For most athletes, the Olympics are, more or less, about sports. For runner Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, who was born in South Sudan but competed for the first-ever refugee team in the most recent summer Games, it's far more complex. Anjelina fled Sudan when she was only 6 years old, and has not seen or communicated with her parents since. Now 21, she's spent most of her life in a refugee camp in Kenya. Anjelina says the main reason she competed in Rio was in hopes of reuniting with her family and earning enough money to help her father build a better house.

At 43 years old, American cyclist Kristin Armstrong just won her third gold medal in the time trial. One of the most poignant moments of the Games came when she celebrated with her 5-year-old son, Lucas. As tears streamed down Kristin's face, Lucas asked why she was crying. Knowing a teaching opportunity when she saw one, Kristin explained that we don't only cry when we're sad—sometimes, we cry happy tears, too.

When Julio and Ondina fled Nicaragua in 1972, they never imagined that they'd one day be parents to America's first family of tae kwon do. Julio was a fan of kung fu movies, so in 1983, he signed his oldest son Jean up for martial arts lessons. Long story short, the classes took. Jean would go on to win two Pan American championships and then coach his three younger siblings. Steven was the most successful, winning gold medals in 2000 and 2004. 2008 was the Lopez family's biggest year, though. As had become routine, Jean again coached and Steven again competed — but this time, the youngest Lopez siblings Mark and Diana also joined in the fun. At those Olympics, the Steven, Mark and Diana became only the second trio of siblings ever to compete in a games.

American volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings may be a four-time Olympic medalist (three of which are gold), but she doesn't hesitate to say that her three children are far more important. Her first two children were born between the 2008 Beijing games and the 2012 London games (Joey in 2009 and Sundance in 2010). At those 2012 games, she was also five weeks pregnant with her third child, Scout. She credits her children for her success after Beijing, saying that they were instrumental in increasing her motivation, shifting her perspective and instilling in her the desire to be a positive role model.