Jodie Grinham could make history at the 2024 Paralympics in an unexpected way.
Archer representing Great Britain at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, Grinham, 31, is seven months pregnant.
“I’m going to accomplish something that no one else can say they’ve accomplished,” she told The Athletic of her big accomplishment, teasing that her water might break while on the podium. “I [will have] was at the Paralympic Games seven months pregnant and had to compete.” When she gave birth to her son Christian in 2022, she was at the 28-week mark.
The athlete, who finished fourth in the women’s individual complex open shooting event and second in the mixed team complex open round of the standings on Thursday, August 29, had “pregnancy preparations” for her competition.
Grinham trained with coach Charlotte Burgess in an unusual way: when in position to shoot, Burgess would make “a slight movement that would act like a baby kick or [tickle] her side to simulate the sensation of fluttering.”
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Jodie Grinham 2024.
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Grisham stays focused on the task at hand while embracing what might happen during games. “If I go to the Games and I’m in the gold final and the baby kicks me and I lose the gold, what then? What did I expect? I knew the risks,” she told The Athletic about competing while pregnant.
Doctors have assured her that her baby is healthy and doing well after a health scare with her baby earlier this week, but have strongly encouraged her to rest after she finishes competing.
However, she remains determined. “I know I can do more, it’s a personal best, but there’s a lot of room for improvement,” Grinham said, according to the Associated Press, after finishing fourth on Thursday.
“The key for me was to finish in that top four and it gives me a day off in the competition to focus on tuning things and getting better.”
Being able to balance motherhood and competition with a “sports mindset” was important to Grisham, and her partner Christopher Greenan was helpful. “I want to be a mother and an athlete,” Grinham also said, via the AP. “I’m not willing to sacrifice either of them, but I’m a mummy at home.”
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Jodie Grinham and Phoebe Paterson Pine compete in the Paralympics.
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Grinham previously won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Her next appearance at the 2024 Paralympics will be on Saturday 31 August, when she will compete in the women’s singles elimination round and the mixed quarter-finals on Monday 2 September.
To learn more about all the Olympic winners and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com and check out the live coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Paris Paralympics, which begin on August 28, on NBC and Peacock.
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Source: HIS Education