Happy Mother's Day in 2026!

Today I am thinking about my mother, Anita Page DeFrantz; the woman whose name I carry. 💐

She came to Indiana University in the late 1940s and, as a sophomore, was one of five African American women who helped integrate student housing on campus. She earned her undergraduate degree as a speech therapist, raised four children, and then went back to IU for her master's while my brother and I sat through one strange semester at a Bloomington school where we were the only two Black students enrolled. She did not soften the world for us; she taught us how to walk through it with our heads up.

In My Olympic Life, I wrote: "my mother was my first and most important role model." That has not changed in the years since. The lessons she gave me; about steadiness, about preparing well, about doing the work whether or not anyone is watching; have carried me from a college rowing seat in 1971 to half a century of Olympic service. Every podium I have stood on, every boardroom I have entered, every long flight to Lausanne... she was there.

To every mother who showed her daughter what determination looks like before the world had a name for it: thank you. To every daughter whose mother is still her first phone call: cherish that. And to those of us missing our mothers today, may the memories be sweet.

Who is the mother, grandmother, or mother-figure who shaped you? Tell me about her. 🌷

#MothersDay #MothersDay2026 #HappyMothersDay #RoleModel #MyOlympicLife #AnitaDeFrantz #OlympicMemoir #LegacyOfMothers #BlackHistory #IndianaUniversity #SportBelongstoEveryone #WomenWhoLead #DaughterOfAStrongWoman #Gratitude #FamilyLegacy

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Excerpted from My Olympic Life by me, Anita Lucette DeFrantz:

AMAZON LINK:
https://www.amazon.com/My-Olympic-Life-Memoir-1/dp/1736001337

AUDIOBOOK:
https://www.audible.com/pd/My-Olympic-Life-Audiobook/B08VCKGBHZ