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Chelsea player Melanie Leupolz is a one-off in her team and a rarity in women’s professional sport. She’s a mum.

A mum who came back to her sport at an elite level after giving birth.

But the 29-year-old German international and Olympic gold medallist had to answer plenty of questions about her decision to take time out and start a family.

“At the beginning, I got some comments like how can you start a family at your prime time of being a footballer, why did you not wait until you retired?

“I didn’t listen, I knew what I wanted – a child and playing football as well – and everything was possible.”

And it was possible because Chelsea has a progressive attitude towards women’s health, helped no doubt by having a female coach in Emma Hayes, herself a mother, who also worked in women’s football in the US, where maternity leave among players is much more common.

“I told Emma straightaway for my safety and for the baby’s safety. So I was training with the team for four months but without any contact.

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“They were careful about my heart rate and that I didn’t get the ball into my bump, but I was happy I could come to the training ground and see my teammates and be involved, and they didn’t know at that point.”

Melanie Leupolz. Pic: AP
Image:
Melanie Leupolz. Pic: AP

But she still had to take the best part of a year out from competitive football. Enough time to possibly lose your place, or to lose the focus you once had because of a change in priorities.

Leupolz says she doesn’t think it’s changed her hunger for the game but she admits she is different.

“You change a bit as a person because there’s a big other part of your life. Maybe you see football through different eyes and maybe that helps with the pressure and focus.

“But I still want to win everything! Two months after giving birth I was back with the team and travelling to winter camp. I was fully back in the squad and playing football, it’s amazing how quickly everything went.”

Read more from Sky News:
Ping pong fight lost football coach his job
Williams posts post-partum bikini picture

She was lucky enough to be given a new contract before she left to have her son. So the financial worry was taken away.

Many women still putting off children until end of career

For many athletes in other sports, the financial burden of having a child, travelling the world for tournaments, and taking childcare with you is beyond the finances of all but the top female players.

It’s not surprising that many female athletes put off starting a family until after they’ve retired. Sport is an already short career, and so are the financial rewards.

The most decorated track athlete of all time with 10 Olympic medals, American sprinter Allyson Felix, famously found herself significantly financially worse off when she became pregnant in 2018.

Allyson Felix at the World Athletics Championships in July 2022. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Allyson Felix at the World Athletics Championships in July 2022. Pic: Reuters

Her sponsor Nike reduced her payments by 70%. She ended up dropping them.

She said: “Getting pregnant was known as the kiss of death for Olympic track and field athletes.”

The brand did not treat Serena Williams the same way when she announced her pregnancy after winning the Australian Open in 2017, but perhaps as (arguably) the greatest female player of all time, she had more marketing clout.

Williams also changed the Women’s Tour’s (WTA) maternity rules after speaking out about the lack of protection for female players and pregnancy.

Having been World Number One, Williams returned a year later with a daughter but ranked down at a lowly 451.

Serena Williams with her daughter Alexis in August 2022. Pic: AP
Image:
Serena Williams with her daughter Alexis in August 2022. Pic: AP

Women in tennis allowed to keep rank during maternity leave

Now players can protect their ranking for their first eight tournaments after having a baby, so they are not starting from scratch, drawing the new World Number One in the first round, with their previous good work still recognised.

But the main challenge for all but the top players in the world is the cost.

Players further down the rankings just don’t earn enough in winnings to support travelling week to week with a nanny.

That would mean paying for extra flights and an extra hotel room. The maths just doesn’t work.

British doubles player and Sky commentator Naomi Broady has struggled to go back to the sport she loves.

Naomi Broady at Wimbledon in July 2018. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Naomi Broady at Wimbledon in July 2018. Pic: Reuters

“It’s pretty impossible, I’d be totally reliant on what I’m earning on court, and then if a parent or my partner can’t travel with me it’s the cost of a nanny as well, so unless you’re earning serious top dollar then it’s just not achievable.”

Certainly becoming a mother seems less of a challenge if you are part of a team and have the backing of your club.

Leupolz admits she has had to make sacrifices and has had to think and plan a few steps ahead to make it work, like any other working mother in any other walk of life.

Attitudes to athletes starting families while still playing their sport are slowly changing.

But even she won’t be adding to her family until after she hangs up her boots.

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Labour MP Dan Norris arrested on suspicion of rape and child sex offences

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Labour MP Dan Norris arrested on suspicion of rape and child sex offences

Labour MP Dan Norris has been arrested on suspicion of rape and child sex offences.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Dan Norris MP was immediately suspended by the Labour Party upon being informed of his arrest.

“We cannot comment further while the police investigation is ongoing.”

Police said a man in his 60s had been arrested on Friday on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl, rape, child abduction and misconduct in a public office.

Sky News has contacted Mr Norris for comment.

Mr Norris, 65, defeated Jacob Rees-Mogg to win the new seat of North East Somerset and Hanham in last year’s general election.

He has also lost the party whip in the House of Commons and has stepped down from his role as chair of the League Against Cruel Sports.

Avon and Somerset Police said in a statement: “In December 2024, we received a referral from another police force relating to alleged non-recent child sex offences having been committed against a girl.

“Most of the offences are alleged to have occurred in the 2000s, but we’re also investigating an alleged offence of rape from the 2020s.

“An investigation, led by officers within Operation Bluestone, our dedicated rape and serious sexual assault investigation team, remains ongoing and at an early stage.

“The victim is being supported and given access to any specialist help or support she needs.

“A man, aged in his 60s, was arrested on Friday (April 4) on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl (under the Sexual Offences Act 1956), rape (under the Sexual Offences Act 2003), child abduction and misconduct in a public office. He’s been released on conditional bail for enquiries to continue.

“This is an active and sensitive investigation, so we’d respectfully ask people not to speculate on the circumstances so our enquiries can continue unhindered.”

Mr Norris first entered Parliament when Tony Blair came to power in 1997 and served as the Wansdyke MP until 2010.

He was an assistant whip under Mr Blair and served as a junior minister under Gordon Brown.

Mr Norris has also been West of England mayor since 2021 but is due to step down ahead of May’s local elections.

A spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports, a UK-based animal welfare charity which campaigns to end sports such as fox hunting and game bird shooting, confirmed he had stepped down from his role.

“The charity cannot comment further while an investigation is ongoing,” a statement said.

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Jaguar Land Rover to ‘pause’ US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

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Jaguar Land Rover to 'pause' US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.

JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.

Follow live updates: Trump’s baseline 10% tariff kicks in

In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.

“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”

The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.

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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.

“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.

Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.

All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.

Read more: A red wall on Wall Street – but Trump seems to believe it will work out

Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.

Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.

In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.

Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.

They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.

The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.

Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.

“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.

Two fire crews remain at the scene.

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