Elisabeth Clay: A Mother at the Highest Level of Jiu-Jitsu

For women in sports, balancing career and motherhood can bring difficult questions. At some point, many athletes start wondering how pregnancy and motherhood will impact their routine, performance, and future in competition. 

How do you continue training during pregnancy? What changes after giving birth? Will you still be able to compete at a high level? These are questions that many female athletes face in their careers.

But despite all the challenges, women continue to prove they can make it happen, and Elisabeth Clay is an example of that. 

Clay had already conquered some of the biggest titles in jiu-jitsu before giving birth to Danilo Jeremiah in August 2024, but her career only continued to grow after becoming a mother. 

She returned to high-level competition only 76 days after giving birth, stepping back on the mats at the IBJJF No-Gi Pans and capturing double gold – for the third time in her career. The only adjustment she made was moving up a weight class to avoid the extra stress of cutting weight. 

 
“For No-Gi Pans, I was just so excited to be back competing again. But I could definitely tell I was slow and my timing was off for sure. I think my excitement to just be back on the competition mat overshadowed the other feelings. I remember being so nervous, not even to actually compete, but trying to juggle having a not even 3-month-old baby, competing, flying, and all of that. I just remember being so nervous to fly with my son,”  Clay told Kingz in an interview. 

 
After that remarkable return, Clay went on to win the IBJJF No-Gi Worlds later that same year and carried the momentum into an impressive 2025 season. She captured titles at the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals and IBJJF No-Gi Worlds (double gold), while also finishing runner-up in the middleweight division and taking bronze in the open class at the IBJJF Worlds. 

Now in 2026, Clay is once again building momentum. Earlier this season, she won the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals and followed it up with a runner-up finish in the middleweight division and bronze in the absolute division at Pans. 

To Clay, ending her career was never an option.

“I knew I was coming back to competition - I trained almost my whole pregnancy. I think also since we had planned and were trying to get pregnant, it wasn’t like this was a curve ball.”

She also admitted that life has become busier, but she’s living the dream she always wanted: “Honestly, this was always my dream: to be a mother and an athlete.” 

Mother and Athlete: No Days Off 

If there’s one thing you can’t take a break from, it’s motherhood. You need to be there for your baby no matter what. 

Being an athlete can offer more flexibility to travel and keep your child close, but you also need to figure out how to perform at a high level while sharing your body, time, and energy with your baby. 

More than just going out there and performing at a high level, Clay also takes advantage of breaks between matches to breastfeed her son. She admitted that, especially at the beginning, balancing everything was difficult, not only during competitions, but before it. 

“It was hard at first. Not necessarily while I was competing, but before my milk regulated, if I didn’t breastfeed often enough, then my breasts would hurt a lot. Now it’s not as big of a deal, and he doesn’t need to breastfeed often”, she said.  

“But I remember at first, in between matches, instead of resting every single match, I would have to sit and breastfeed him if he was awake." 

That’s the reality of being both a mother and an athlete: there’s no pause button between the two roles. But finding that balance was something Clay had already expected and planned for, since motherhood had always been part of her dream. 

“There’s no break with either, really, so then when you have 2 jobs that never truly stop, it can be exhausting. But it’s really worth it. Before becoming a mom, being an athlete still wasn’t easy but it’s easier because you can just focus on that. When you’re a mom, you still have to be a mom while being an athlete.” 

She also relies on a strong support system, both from her team and especially from her husband, Danilo Moreira, who is always in her corner during matches. 

Balancing motherhood and elite competition is not easy, but Clay continues to prove it’s possible. While raising her almost 2-year-old son, she remains one of the top names in jiu-jitsu, and her story is becoming bigger than titles alone. 

⁠"You've got to give yourself grace, but really the only way to figure it out is to jump back in and try. Every day is going to be different, and you can do as much research as you want, but you can only figure it out by trying”, she reflected.