During the 2017 United States Open, Serena Williams, holder of 23 Grand Slam titles, was fighting for her life. She had just given birth to Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. by cesarean section and faced life-threatening complications from a pulmonary embolism and blood clotting.

She would be bedridden for six weeks.

One year later, she is back on the U.S. Open courts, attempting to tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles.

Her return, which has included a run to the Wimbledon final in July, should be surprising to exactly no one. Williams has joined a league of simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary women, those who return to work after childbirth and quickly perform at a very high level. Elite athletes just have a different kind of office environment awaiting them.

In 1960, two years after giving birth to her daughter, the sprinter Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals at the Rome Olympics. Sheryl Swoopes returned to the basketball court six weeks after giving birth to her son. She led the Houston Comets to the 1997 W.N.B.A. championship. The Scottish golfer Catriona Matthew won the Women’s British Open in August 2009, 10 weeks after giving birth to her second daughter. The British heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill gave birth to her first son in July 2014. She won gold at the world championships 13 months later.