Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings: I Was Pregnant in London

Gold medalist noticed a change while at the games

The odd feeling Kerri Walsh Jennings felt in her stomach at the London Olympics wasn't just butterflies.

The three-time gold medalist in beach volleyball was five weeks pregnant at the games, she told Matt Lauer on Monday's "Today" show.

“When I was throwing my body around fearlessly, and going for gold for our country, I was pregnant,” Walsh Jennings said.

The Olympian first started noticing that her "body started to feel different" while she was overseas.

"I'm a pretty happy girl and I was unreasonably moody," she said. “I thought it could have been the stress of the games and travel kind of throws your schedule off. But I knew. At some point, you’re late and then you start feeling something. And I definitely felt something in London.”

Walsh Jennings, who successfully defended her gold medal title with teammate and fellow Californian Misty-May Treanor, said that the pregnancy did not affect her game. The duo became the first women’s beach volleyball pair to win three consecutive gold medals.

“I gave everything I had,” Walsh Jennings said on "Today."

The baby, due April 9, will be the athlete’s third child. Walsh Jennings and her husband, Casey Jennings, have two boys, Joey, 3, and Sundance, 2.

The gold medalist has a history of quickly returning to the game. Kerri Walsh returned within four months to the volleyball court after giving birth to her second son in 2010.

"I want to be the best," she then answered on a Q&A at the NBC Olympics site. "I want to win a gold medal in London." 

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