U.S. Curler Tabitha Peterson on Her Third Olympics, First as a Mom

Tabitha Peterson is headed to her third Olympic Games, and she’s the first to say that this quad certainly looks different. The Olympics feel different when your world is bigger. 

“Obviously the biggest thing is now being a mother, a new mother,” she says. “That itself has its whole new set of hurdles.”

For Tabitha, motherhood didn’t replace her athletic identity, it added perspective. And that perspective led to a new level of intentional preparation. 

“Now being a mother… there’s just a lot more you need to plan, and logistics, and caregiving, and just…all of that. We sat down for some honest conversations as a team and made sure we had a really, really solid training plan, especially going into this season.”

Motherhood Changed her Definition of Success

As Tabitha describes how her definition of success has evolved, motherhood is right there in the answer. 

“It’s made me… even more [good at] time management,” she says. “Any time that I’m away from her and my family, I am putting 100% effort in.”

Motherhood has made her training more intentional.

“Training smarter, not necessarily harder,” she explains. “When I’m practicing, training, doing anything curling…I put 100% of my brain power towards that.”

But motherhood also introduced something powerful: a perspective that doesn’t disappear when the scoreboard doesn’t go your way.

“If we don’t have the result we wanted… you look up in the stands and see the baby and family,” she says. “They’re gonna love you no matter what.”

It doesn’t make her want it less. It just makes her remember she’s more than it.

“At the end of the day, there’s more to life,” Tabitha says. “Sports are amazing… but I love the fact that I have other areas of my life that I care just about, just as much…or quite frankly more.”

Curling Taught Patience, Motherhood Made It Personal

Tabitha names one lesson above all others: patience. Curling forces it. Long games. Swings of momentum. A bad shot you have to release immediately.

“If you have a bad shot or a bad end, you kind of have to just forget about it and move on.”

Her team even says it out loud in the middle of competition:

“We just gotta be patient,” she explains. “Every end is a new end, and you just gotta move forward.”

Then she pauses, and connects this takeaway from her athletic career directly to motherhood.

“That patience definitely relates to motherhood,” she says. “These little babies are just… they’re curious, they’re trying to learn everything, and they get into little messes, and you just have to… be patient with them!”

“You Can Do It All” But It Takes a Village

Tabitha’s advice is practical and deeply grounded in real life.First: education matters. 

“I do think education is extremely important,” she says. “In a lot of these Olympic sports…your career is not going to last forever. I went to college, I got my doctorate in pharmacy, and also curled at the same time.”

But she also believes sport builds a mentality of confidence, community, and friendships that outlive competition, including the bond of competing right alongside her sister, Tara Peterson.

“You can do it all,” Tabitha reflects. “It just takes a village.”

Her husband trades off childcare with her training schedule. At competitions, parents, in-laws, and friends step in (gladly) because they’re in it with her.

That’s the part most don’t see when an Olympian steps onto the ice: the squad “backing” the team.

Stories like Tabitha’s are exactly what Back The Team is sharing. Join us behind-the-scenes of the Winter Games for daily drops and real conversations about mindset, pressure, and performance with the world’s best athletes. We will be live from Milan as the action unfolds. Join Back The Team and follow along!