AUSTIN, Texas – Americans everywhere are coping with uncertainty caused by COVID-19, including elite athletes who thrive on being in control. When the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games were postponed, Texas-based track and field star Natasha Hastings thought about hanging up her spikes for good, but she is now using her little bundle of joy as motivation to keep running.

Hastings said clinching her second Olympic gold medal as part of the U.S. Women’s 4x400-meter relay team in 2016 was a dream come true.

The Texas sprinter has spent much of 2020 training at an Austin-area track for a repeat, preparing to retire on top. Hastings said learning that the Tokyo Olympics had been postponed until 2021 left her feeling unsure if she was up to another year of training.

"At first when the announcement came out that it was postponed, I was like, ‘Man, I don't know,’ because if I'm honest it's grueling," Hastings said.

Along with the physical challenges the 33-year-old athlete endures training to compete on a global stage, Hastings is doing so as a self-described single mother.

Hastings with her son, Liam. (Courtesy Natasha Hastings)

"Having my son, it wasn't necessarily planned," Hastings admitted.

Hastings gave birth to her son, Liam, on August 6, 2019, after an expected pregnancy and a failed engagement. Hastings said some days she struggles trying to train at home due to COVID-19 and taking care of her son.

"I didn't consider myself a stay-at-home mom, even though I don't have a traditional job, but I was totally defeated feeling that I couldn't tend to him and tend to what it was that I wanted to get done," Hastings said.

Hastings credits a supportive family, tenacity to keep pushing forward, and her son with helping her stay motivated.

"At the end of the day, I want him there in Tokyo to see that Mommy didn't give up," Hastings said.