Russian gold medalists say secret to success is 'having babies'

On Tuesday, the Russian women's biathlon relay team won gold at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, telling competitors that a source of their success was having babies.

After helping her team defeat France and Germany, who got silver and bronze respectively, Russian relay member Olga Zaitseva, 31, told reporters that giving birth to her son Alexander in 2007 has helped her athletically, Breitbart News reported.

“My child is my greatest happiness and he is my best little gold medal,” said Ziatseva. “It has made me calmer.”

“I would recommend to the French and German team as well, don't be afraid, go ahead and have babies, and get better in sports.”

Anna Boulygina, 30, who is one of the three mothers on the Russian team, echoed Ziatseva on Tuesday and said, “No medal compares to having a child. I think children are the main thing women are designed to do. Having a family is an enormous help to me and it is due to their support that I am able to achieve this result, so the answer is yes, it helps.”

Assuaging the fear that many women have in thinking that motherhood deters athletic performance, teammate Olga Medvedtseva, 34, said “don't be afraid.”

“I would say it is a very stimulating experience and I would recommend having kids, don't be afraid of it, you will only get better as you are all so young,” Medvedtseva told her competitors.

The relay team was greeted with a host of Russian flags at Vancouver's Whistler Olympic park after their 1 hr. 9 min 36.3sec run.

“We were overwhelmed that the entire stadium was covered with Russian flags and that was definitely helpful for us,” noted Boulygina.