Breastfeeding photo controversy: Olympian Torah Bright responds to 'sad' backlash

Australian Olympian Torah Bright with her husband Angus Thomson. Photo / Instagram

Aussie Olympian Torah Bright has given a brilliant response to online trolling she has received following her nude breastfeeding picture.

The 34-year-old stunned her Instagram followers on Sunday by sharing an "insane" photo of feeding her baby son with her feet pointing to the sky

The snowboarding champion marked her first Mother's Day with a series of images alongside her 10-month-old son Flow.

One of the photos featured Bright performing a handstand while breastfeeding.

The Winter Olympian's incredible acrobatics were widely received with stunned awe from fans and fellow athletes — but Bright found out her picture hasn't pleased everyone when she came under fire from online trolls.

Australian Olympian Torah Bright breastfeeding her baby. Photo / Instagram

Among the backlash was a series of critical comments from Instagram users underneath a post made by the official Body And Soul Australia page.

While the post was nothing but flattering of Bright, some of the comments underneath attacked Bright as a mother and an attention-seeker.

She has since given a perfect response to the backlash in a follow-up post that explained how some people had failed to understand the message of empowering mothers she was making with her viral photo.

"Reading some of these comments made me sad," she said.

"In my world, mothers should be each other's cheer leaders (it's hard enough). Embrace our quirkiness and finding the joy in every sh***y thing that is motherhood.

"We all do it differently. It is not wrong or right. Motherhood is pure. I only now consider myself a Wonder Woman because I have joined the sacred MOTHERS club with you.

"Nothing but respect to all mothers."

Torah Bright shrugs off the backlash. Photo / Instagram

Bright's post also included a blunt message to her critics.

"Love to all mothers who need it right now. I got your back," she posted. "Every mother has been there. You are not alone.

"I'm not looking for praise. I never need strangers' praises. I walk this earth to the beat of my own drum, led by my nutrition and search for love and joy … obviously."

This wasn't Bright's first obscure breastfeeding snap on social media. Last month, she uploaded an image of herself breastfeeding her son while skateboarding.

Flow was born in July last year — he is the first child of Bright and husband Angus Thomson, who is also a snowboarder.

Torah Bright with her baby. Photo / Instagram

Bright famously won a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics in the halfpipe event before clinching a silver at Sochi four years later. She is Australia's most successful athlete in Winter Olympic history.

In 2014, she became the first athlete — male or female — to qualify for all three snowboarding disciplines at the Olympics.

She wrote on her original nude breastfeeding photo that motherhood has changed her.

"Becoming a mother has unleashed something inside of me," she wrote.

"It's deeply spiritual. It's primal. It's raw. It's fierce. It is pure. I am mother.

"My prayer for all mothers, now and in the future is that they be heard. Honoured. Respected and encouraged to trust their intuition."