SA marathon runner Jess Stenson reveals on The Soda Room podcast she’s expecting second child

Pregnancy announcements from high-profile Australian athletes are usually careful PR exercises – but not in Jess Stenson’s case.

Jess Stenson with her husband Dylan and their son Billy, 3. Stenson is expecting her second child. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Big announcements from high-profile athletes are usually carefully-managed events, but Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jess Stenson’s latest news was leaked from a very close source – her three-year-old son Billy.

“I got pulled aside by his ELC (early learning centre) carer the other week to say, ‘look at I just wanted to let you know, out of courtesy, and you don’t have to respond to this, but Billy’s been walking around today saying that he’s going to be a big brother’,” Stenson told Mark Soderstrom’s The Soda Room podcast.

So it was a gang of three-year-olds who got the scoop that Stenson (nee Trengove) and husband Dylan were expecting their second child, but it’s news that will also be of great interest to those hoping the 35-year-old will be flying the flag for South Australia in the Paris Olympics marathon.

The runner, who’s just been named as an ambassador for athletic wear giant lululemon, said that while family always came first she hadn’t ruled out competing in France.

“Technically if I could run a marathon, probably before May of 2024, that would give me the opportunity to try and qualify for Paris,” Stenson told the podcast.

“I think the Olympics are in August of 2024, so you need to run a marathon early enough that you can recover, and backup for Paris. But look, that would be within seven, eight months of giving birth, so everything would have to go really smoothly.

Jess Stenson with Billy after winning gold in the Women’s Marathon on day two of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty

“I’d have to be physically, mentally and emotionally ready to chase a goal like that. So I’m just going in, again, very open minded. We’ll just see how I’m feeling. I don’t want to have any expectations or put any pressure on it.”

Stenson celebrates as she wins gold in the Women’s Marathon. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty

But if Stenson does compete in Paris it will now be with a entourage one bigger than the one who greeted her in heartwarming scenes after her gritty marathon win at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

There was barely a dry eye among the crowd on the ground – or watching from home – as Stenson hugged Billy and Dylan after becoming the first woman to win a medal in the marathon at three Commonwealth Games.

“It didn’t sink in straightaway,” she said of the win where Dylan and Billy were waiting at the end to congratulate her.

“I didn’t think Dylan and Billy would be at the finish line because I’d seen them at 33km mark cheering for me and that’s a long way from the finish.

“When someone yelled out, ‘Dylan and Billy are over here’ and I crossed over and saw them and that’s when the emotion really started to hit

“I get goosebumps just talking about it. It was such a satisfying feeling.”