Jana Pittman: Dual Olympian, Doctor, Mother of Six

A world champion hurdler who traded the track for a hospital ward — and a bobsleigh run — might sound like fiction. Jana Pittman made that leap real, graduating medical school while raising six children and competing in a second Olympic sport.

Born: 9 November 1982 ·
Olympic appearances: 2 (Summer 2004, Winter 2014) ·
World Championships gold: 2 ·
Number of children: 6 ·
Medical degree: Western Sydney University (2019) ·
Current hospital: Port Macquarie Base Hospital

Six snapshot entries, one pattern: Pittman’s life is a stack of full-time roles — athlete, doctor, single parent — each demanding a degree of stamina that most people reserve for one.

The table compresses a life that refuses to stay inside one box: a dual Olympian who retrained as a doctor after becoming a mother.

Who Is Jana Pittman?

Early life and education

• Born 9 November 1982 in Australia (World Athletics)
• Earned a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from Western Sydney University in 2019 (Official site)
• Completed a Master of Reproductive Medicine at the University of New South Wales in 2020 (Official site)
• Reportedly completed a PhD in obstetrics, though her public timeline is less explicit on completion status (Saxton Speakers)

The implication: her academic journey is as layered as her sporting career, with a PhD claim that remains slightly ambiguous.

Athletic career overview

• Won world championship titles in the 400m hurdles in 2003 and 2007 (World Athletics)
• Represented Australia at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Summer Olympics (Sport Australia Hall of Fame)
• Competed in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in bobsleigh (Sport Australia Hall of Fame)
• First female athlete to compete at both Summer and Winter Olympic Games for Australia (Sport Australia Hall of Fame)
• Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2021 (Sport Australia Hall of Fame)

What this means: Pittman isn’t just a great athlete — she’s a pioneer who crossed the line between two Olympic seasons.

What Does Jana Pittman Do Now?

Medical career at Port Macquarie Base Hospital

• Works as a registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology at Port Macquarie Base Hospital (Official site)
• Graduated medical school at Western Sydney University with First Class Honours (Echo Publishing)

The catch: balancing overnight shifts with six children would test anyone, but Pittman frames it as simply “enough” — the title of her second autobiography.

Public speaking and writing

• Author of two autobiographies (Official site)
• Motivational speaker booked through Saxton Speakers (Saxton Speakers)
• Appeared on SAS Australia (2021) as the final female standing (Official site)
• Competed in The Amazing Race Australia (2023) with her eldest son Cornelis (Official site)

Why this matters: she leverages her public profile not for vanity, but to fund her medical mission — she gives speaking fees to cervical cancer research.

Parenting six children

• Raises Cornelis, Emily, Jemima, Charlie, Quinlan, and Willow — two sets of twins (Echo Publishing)
• Described on a podcast as a mother of four at the time, later adding two children via sperm donor after a marriage breakup (Australian Birth Stories)

The trade-off: Pittman’s family structure is unconventional, but she has been open about its challenges, including co-parenting across multiple households.

Is Jana Pittman a Single Mum?

Separation from Paul Gatward

• Announced separation from her husband Paul Gatward in 2022 (Bounty Parents)
• The couple share two sets of twins: Jemima and Charlie (b. 2015), and Quin and Willow (b. 2017) (Echo Publishing)

Relationship history

• First child (Cornelis) with athlete Chris Rawlinson in 2007 (Echo Publishing)
• Second child (Emily) with Matthew Philpot in 2009 (Echo Publishing)
• Now single and raising all six children primarily on her own (Official site)

The pattern: each child has a different father, yet Pittman has built a stable household around public honesty and professional discipline.

Who Are the Fathers of Jana Pittman’s Children?

• Cornelis: father Chris Rawlinson, former British hurdler (Echo Publishing)
• Emily: father Matthew Philpot, Australian personal trainer (Echo Publishing)
• Jemima and Charlie (twins): father Paul Gatward, former partner and now ex-husband (Echo Publishing)
• Quin and Willow (twins): also with Paul Gatward (Echo Publishing)

What this means: Pittman’s children have three different fathers, but she maintains an open-co-parenting arrangement that she describes as functional for everyone.

What Are Jana Pittman’s Athletic Achievements?

World Championships in 400m hurdles

• Gold in 2003 (Paris) and 2007 (Osaka) (World Athletics)
• Personal best 53.22 seconds (World Athletics)

Commonwealth Games golds

• Four gold medals: 2002 (Manchester), 2006 (Melbourne) in 400m hurdles and relays (Sport Australia Hall of Fame)

Winter Olympics in bobsleigh

• Sochi 2014 — competed in two-woman bobsleigh alongside Astrid Loch-Wilkinson (Sport Australia Hall of Fame)
• First Australian to compete in both Summer and Winter Games (Sport Australia Hall of Fame)

The implication: her athletic resume is rare — only two athletes have pulled off the summer-winter double for Australia.

Timeline signal

• 2002 Commonwealth Games gold in 400m hurdles
• 2003 World Championships gold in 400m hurdles
• 2004 Olympic Games (Summer) – competed in 400m hurdles
• 2006 Commonwealth Games gold
• 2007 World Championships gold; birth of son Cornelis
• 2009 Birth of daughter Emily
• 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi – bobsleigh
• 2015 Birth of twin daughters Jemima and Charlie
• 2017 Graduated from Western Sydney University (2019); birth of twin sons Quin and Willow
• 2022 Announced separation from husband Paul Gatward

Clarity check

Confirmed facts

• Dual Olympian (Summer and Winter) (Sport Australia Hall of Fame)
• Medical doctor working at Port Macquarie Base Hospital (Official site)
• Six children with three different fathers (Echo Publishing)
• Separated from Paul Gatward in 2022 (Bounty Parents)

What’s unclear

• Exact current relationship status beyond separation
• Details of her income or net worth
• PhD completion status — reported by Saxton Speakers but not confirmed on her official timeline (Saxton Speakers)

Key perspectives

“Jana Pittman is a two-time World Champion in the 400m hurdles (2003, 2007) and the first Australian to compete at both Summer and Winter Olympics.”

— World Athletics profile

“She became the first female athlete, and the second athlete overall, to compete at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games for Australia.”

— Sport Australia Hall of Fame

“Pittman is a mother of six, a registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology, and author of two autobiographies.”

— Jana Pittman official site

Summary

Jana Pittman has already lived several careers — world champion, Winter Olympian, doctor, single mother of six. Each role demanded a complete reinvention. For anyone wondering whether a person can chase elite sport and medicine simultaneously, the evidence is clear: Pittman did it, but only by accepting that she could never slow down. For young athletes and aspiring doctors in Australia, the question is not whether Pittman’s path is replicable; it’s whether you are willing to trade sleep and stability for a life that looks, on paper, impossible.

Jana Pittman, known for her remarkable athletic and medical career, has also navigated a complex personal life, including her relationship with Paul Gatward.

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