It can be quite challenging to find the perfect balance between career and family life.
Add Olympic pressure to the mix - and the juggling becomes instantaneously magnified.
No one knows this better than 37-year-old trap shooter Liu Yingzi.
The mother of one-year-old fraternal twins spends several weeks or months away at various training camps within China training for the Games.
"It is quite difficult for me to leave my babies at home with their father alone," says Liu. "I miss them a lot while training with the national team. But, all of this paid off when I realized my Olympic dream."
Liu won a spot to compete in women's trap at the summer Olympics after beating out top-notch Chinese shooters Gao E and Chen Li.
Because countries can only send one athlete to compete in the event, competition for the Olympic berth was fierce. It began last year and included a series of six matches.
Liu finally earned the coveted Olympic spot after finishing ahead of two-time Olympian Gao and 2006 World Championship silver medalist Chen.
The current World No. 1 shooter has never enjoyed better rankings in her career. Prior to giving birth in 2006, her results were hardly as impressive.
Liu made a surprising comeback from maternity leave when she took the title at the 2007 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Championship in Cyprus.
Liu finished third among the 72 athletes in the qualification round and passed on to the finals while her teammates Gao and Chen were knocked out.
A few months later, Liu brought back a bronze from the 2007 ISSF World Cup Grand Finals in Belgrade. After a rough start to the competition, Liu clawed her way to a spot on the podium.
"It is very difficult to catch up in the finals, but Liu is really good at this," said her shooting coach Sun Shengwei. "But she must get better results in the qualifications if she wants to take the gold medal at the Olympics."
