Double Olympian Camille French might be used to pushing through 42 gruelling kilometres, but at home, it’s the runner’s four-year-old daughter Sienna who’s setting the pace. Between chopping up feijoas, loading the dishwasher and putting the washing on, Sienna has become an unexpected extra pair of hands as the Waikato athlete, 35, balances life with two little girls, a busy coaching schedule and plans to return to running on the world stage.
After lining up for the marathon at the Paris Olympics in 2024 – with two-year-old Sienna watching in the crowd with her dad Cameron – Camille’s path shifted with the arrival of their second daughter Luella last October.
These days, training runs must fit around nap times, coaching happens in the evenings and weekends, and there’s rarely a quiet moment in their Hamilton home. But if the juggle ever threatens to overwhelm, Sienna steps in.
A natural big sister
“She’s been amazing,” says Camille (née Buscomb).
“I can’t begin to explain just how good she is. Sienna is really motherly. It’s so cute when she says to Luella, ‘Come on, sweetie, we’re just changing your nappy.’ She feels responsible and really wants to help. “The other night, I was putting Luella to bed and when I came out, Sienna had cut up a pile of feijoas, scooped the flesh into a bowl and said, ‘We’re going to make a crumble!’ Then I noticed she’d also loaded clothes into the washing machine, poured the liquid in and turned the machine on all by herself. She said to me, ‘Look, Mum, I know you’re busy and I didn’t want you to have to bother with
the washing!’”
Sienna, who’s just started kindy, loves being a big sister and has a knack of making Luella laugh.
“Whereas I try to be funny and she doesn’t think I’m nearly as much fun as her big sibling,” smiles the sports star.
Slowly returning to running
Camille, who made her Olympic debut in the 10,000m in Tokyo in 2021, has eased herself back into running since Luella’s birth. Sienna’s arrival in June 2022 was by emergency Caesarean, but Luella was born by elective C-section at 40 weeks.
“It was really hard to recover from Sienna’s birth – with all the drugs, it felt like I’d been run over by a bus 100 times,” Camille recalls.
“This time, I only needed a spinal block and my body recovered really well. But when I came home, I had to tell myself to slow down and remember my scar was still healing.”
The first time around, Camille returned to running at eight weeks, determined to achieve an Olympic qualifying time in her first marathon – which, incredibly, she did. After the arrival of her “chill little girl” Luella, Camille took a gentler approach.
“I started a lot slower – one minute of jogging, then one minute walking,” she says.
“I wasn’t as fit because I ran less during my pregnancy. I’ve had to claw back a lot harder this time, gradually picking up the pace again.”
Slow and steady wins the race
Camille admits that up until a couple of months ago, she was still battling to regain her fitness, but she finally feels like an athlete again.
“Now I can go for a run and it’s enjoyable,” she says.
She entered a half-marathon on the Gold Coast last week as a key step in her return to racing, but she’s realistic about what life with two young kids can throw into the mix.
“I got sick in April from trying to juggle too much,” she says.
“I’m still breastfeeding, so I’m still up quite a bit in the night.”
The bigger picture hasn’t changed for Camille. A marathon later this year remains the goal, with the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles in her sights.
“I want to keep running. I have a desire to do it and I get a lot back from it. I’m really excited by what the next few years will bring and I have the New Zealand marathon record in my sights.”
A family built around running
Both girls are being raised around running – Luella was only two weeks old when she was at her first marathon, where Camille was coaching. On the morning of our Woman’s Day photoshoot, Sienna was riding her bike alongside her mum on a run.
“She can bike with me for 6km no problem, which is great when she needs to burn off some energy,” Camille shares.
“Last weekend, we went out for a run as a family – Sienna on the bike and Cam pushing Luella in the pram. We did 8km together.”
Cameron, 34, who ran the 400m hurdles at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, is now focused on his career as a construction project manager. He watches the girls while Camille trains and takes over on weekends when she’s coaching through her business, Run by Camille.
Camille enthuses, “We’re finding a good balance that fits our family now.”
