Meet the Gold-Medal Moms of the Sochi Olympics

While traveling with kids can be stressful, Noelle Pikus-Pace considers it a good luck charm. "Traveling with them has been the biggest blessing," the skeleton racer said of her children, 6-year-old daughter Lacee and 2-year-old son Traycen. "I have my top priorities with me, and it just makes it easy to do what I love."

This is not Erika Brown's first Olympic appearance. The curler made her debut in 1988 at the age of 15! Back for her second time, the mother of two and stepmother of one hopes to pass the curling passion down to her children.

"I just hope that in years to come my kids will look back on that time I'm gone in February for the Olympics and recognize that their mom was doing something that she really loved," Brown told ESPNW. "Maybe someday they will love it, too."

Though Kirsten Wall's daughters are too young to start curling, they are old enough to appreciate their mother's competition clothes. "My dear 5yr old just stated that she wanted curling pant like 'that' team #ulsrud #kindergartenfashionista," the mother of two tweeted.

As an alpine skier for both the US Olympic and Paralympic teams, Danelle Umstead is a true inspiration. But when it comes to her own role model, the mother of Brocton looks to her own mother. "She motivated me to never give up no matter what the odds are because she lived two years of a really good, full life when they gave her six months," Danelle said of her mother, who passed away from cancer in 1999.

The Canadian curler became pregnant with her daughter during the 2012 off-season. Though this was a surprise to her and her boyfriend, fellow curler Brent Laing, the two were excited to welcome a baby. "It will be a challenge, of course, but we feel ready for it," Jones told her local paper in Summer 2012. "We really are thrilled."

For hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser, the hardest part of the Olympics is leaving her 13-year-old son, Noah. "I miss him terribly when we're on the road," the single mother told a Canadian paper. "As he's getting older, it's getting easier for him and harder for me."