Olympic champion Alix Klineman returns to the sand months after giving birth

Alix Klineman, in Paris in September for her first beach volleyball tournament since giving birth to her son Theo on June 9, sent her fiancé an obligatory picture in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Her fiancé, former NHL winger Teddy Purcell, sent back a photo that was, well, dirty.

“My fiancé and I are always sending each other pictures of [Theo’s] biggest blowouts,” Klineman said. “I don't know why we feel the need to photograph it, but it makes us laugh.”

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Klineman, who won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with April Ross, hardly slowed down after getting pregnant. Her last practice was just two days before she went into labor.

“It felt like I was wearing a 40-pound weighted vest,” she said.

And six weeks after giving birth to Theo, Klineman was back on the sand.

“I was expecting it to feel pretty easy just because I had pushed through so much of the pregnancy part,” she said. “Day one, I could barely even take a step to the ball and I felt extremely exhausted.”

As recently as three weeks before the Paris tournament, Klineman felt “really nervous” and was unsure she was ready to return to competition.

She consulted with numerous nutrition and women’s hormone experts including Alisa Vitti, author of “Woman Code.” Klineman learned she needed to increase her protein input, eat warm foods and hydrate.

“I know that it's not totally realistic to expect to be in tip-top shape three or four months postpartum,” she said. “But I've been pushing myself, and I'm proud of how far I've come in such a short period of time.”

Klineman is now playing with Hailey Harward, a 25-year-old USC alum who Klineman describes as an “energizer bunny” with “a lot of potential.” Klineman’s Tokyo Olympic partner, Ross, is pregnant with her first child.

Klineman and Harward played their first match together in Paris on Sept. 27, just 110 days after Klineman gave birth. They lost a single-elimination qualification match to Ukrainian's Valentyna Davidova and Ievgeniia Baieva in three sets.

“Even though Paris didn't go as well as I would have liked,” Klineman said, “I think at the end of the day, if I know that I gave it my all and I'm giving it 100 percent of my effort, that's all I can do.”

The Paris tournament was Klineman’s first trip apart from Theo.

“When I got home,” she said, “I just started bawling when I saw him because I felt like he seemed so much bigger and so much different than when I left him.”

Separation will not be a concern during her next tournament. Klineman and her mother are bringing Theo to Mexico for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, which will be streamed exclusively on VBTV beginning Oct. 6. Klineman and Ross finished second at the 2019 Worlds.

Klineman acknowledged there is a “very small percentage chance” she could qualify for the Paris Olympics.

The window to earn Olympic qualifying points began last February and runs into June 2024. A nation can qualify a maximum of two teams per gender and the top two U.S. teams — Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss followed by Kelly Cheng (née Claes) and Sara Hughes — have built a significant cushion.

“In a perfect world, I would have loved to have given birth a couple months earlier than I did,” she said. “I think that would have opened the door a little bit more.

“There's no denying that there's a couple American teams that are doing really, really well at this point. But I don't think I would be out here working this hard and playing if it wasn't for that 1% chance of it working out.”

Klineman, a Southern California native, is not ready to commit to making a 2028 Los Angeles Olympic bid.

“Once I get to the next quad, I'll reevaluate and see where I'm at and see if I have the desire to go for it or how family life is going,” said Klineman, who will be 38 in 2028. “So I'm leaving the door open, but I'm just not sure at this time.”

Listen to Alix Klineman’s episode of My New Favorite Olympian to hear about her efforts to destigmatize women’s health