Olympic Shotgun champion Amber Rutter has welcomed her first child.

The Team GB shooter, 26, announced the happy news in a joint Instagram post with her husband James on Sunday, sharing a photo of their son as they gushed: ‘Our beautiful boy, you are loved more than you could ever know Welcome to the world, Tommy Rutter – 25/04/24.’ 

Amber, who is one of Team GB‘s most decorated shooting athletes, is still planning to compete at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.

Speaking to BBC Sport last month, she said her plan is to resume training six weeks after the birth and be in Team GB when the Games open on July 26th. 

The Olympic Shotgun champion first announced her pregnancy in October via an Instagram post of her and James, who she wed in Thailand last year, holding up an ultrasound image of their baby.

Olympic Shotgun champion Amber Rutter has welcomed her first child – a baby boy 

The Team GB shooter, 26, announced the happy news in a joint Instagram post with her husband James on Sunday, sharing a photo of their son

Amber announced the name of her baby boy in the sweet social media update

She told BBC Sport that her thoughts immediately turned to how she would juggle being a new mum with the sporting tournament, saying: ‘When I found out I was pregnant instantly the fingers started going to work out how long I had until the Olympics.’

The Olympian said there’s ‘been a lot of talk’ ahead of her competing about making sure there’s private areas for her to breastfeed her newborn in. 

The French Olympic Committee said in January that facilities would be provided for mothers competing at the Games who are travelling with their children.  

Amber, who specialises in skeet, said the couple had been keen to start a family and ‘didn’t want to hold off any longer’. 

She said: ‘I feel like I was telling myself “Oh I’m a human being before I’m an athlete”, but actually when I looked at the actions that I was taking and what I was doing, and what my schedule was, I definitely wasn’t prioritising myself and my dreams and things I wanted to do outside my sport.”‘

While she said bagging another gold medal wasn’t ‘everything to me now’, she’s still hopeful she can succeed at the top level. 

The athlete said: ‘I think the biggest challenge ahead will probably be just adjusting to being a mum. I think I’ve held one baby in my life, which is kind of terrifying, and I’m quite surprised I’m allowed to go and have one for myself.’ 

In 2021, Amber was unable to compete in the Tokyo Olympics after she tested positive for Coronavirus.

Amber, who is one of Team GB ‘s most decorated shooting athletes, is still planning to compete at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris 

Speaking to BBC Sport last month, she said her plan is to resume training six weeks after the birth and be in Team GB when the Games open on July 26th

Her bags had already been packed and she was preparing for early night before catching the plane.

And suddenly, her dream – one she had been preparing for since she was ten, and which seemed finally within touching distance – was over.

She told the MailOnline last year: ‘I was just in shock when I saw the line on the first test,’ she says, still barely able to take it in. ‘I’d been doing lateral flow tests twice a day, so it was routine.’

‘I’d been isolating so hadn’t been out – I’d even had an Ocado delivery for the snacks and toiletries I was going to take with me. I’d been through all the kit, and I was just settling down to watch Love Island.’

Pro: Amber, who typically specialises in skeet, has won medals in major international competitions, spanning the ISSF World Cup series, and the inaugural European Games

‘And I saw the faintest of lines. My heart sank. I thought “No way, this cannot be happening”, and did another test. And another. And another. I was in complete shock. In total, I did five, and I knew. My Olympic journey was over. I would not be going.

‘I just broke down, sobbing. I took half an hour before I could even get words out. My coach was the first person I called. When I spoke to Paul, my sports psychologist, he said “I’m really struggling to be your psychologist now because you are my friend. I feel your pain. I am just gutted.”

Amber has won medals in several major international competitions, spanning the ISSF World Cup series, and the inaugural European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The couple announced they were expecting their first child in October 2023

With husband James after tying the knot in a lavish ceremony in Thailand in February