{"id":31693,"date":"2024-09-01T23:06:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T04:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=31693"},"modified":"2024-09-01T23:48:40","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T04:48:40","slug":"para-archer-jodie-grinham-becomes-1st-athlete-to-win-paralympics-medal-while-pregnant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=31693","title":{"rendered":"Para archer Jodie Grinham becomes 1st athlete to win Paralympics medal while pregnant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Great Britain\u2019s Jodie Grinham has become the first pregnant Paralympic athlete to win a medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grinham\u2019s history-making win was announced on the official Instagram account<\/a> for the Paralympics on Saturday after she took home bronze in women\u2019s individual compound while seven months pregnant at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On her journey to bronze, Grinham defeated her teammate Phoebe Paterson Pine, who won the gold medal in Tokyo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the event, Grinham spoke to The Guardian<\/a> about competing while pregnant with her second child, telling the outlet, \u201cThe baby hasn\u2019t stopped [moving], the baby is saying, what are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a real honor to know that the baby is there and that little support bubble I\u2019ve got in my belly,\u201d she continued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grinham went on to share her concerns about how her baby could have potentially affected her performance, adding, \u201cIt was really starting to worry me that the baby was going to move when I was at full draw and it was going to affect my shot, but my coach and I spent a long time doing little pregnancy prep with her moving me and the bump so I could get used to that feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that during her matches, she would acknowledge her baby saying things like \u201cmummy loves you, I\u2019ll cuddle you in a minute\u201d before she went on with the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen I gave him a little stroke afterwards and said it\u2019s all fine, I know it\u2019s a lot of noise, a lot of heartbeat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grinham made her debut at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio and won a silver, but missed the competition in Tokyo due to injuries caused by a fall. Going into the 2024 Paralympic Games, Grinham told the IPC<\/a> that she was \u201choping to medal\u201d and would be \u201cdisappointed\u201d if she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Paralympian has remained open about her experience with fertility issues and pregnancy loss. She competed in the 2016 Paralympic Games rather than trying to conceive due to the Zika virus and other risks, leaving her to wait until after Tokyo, but those Games were ultimately postponed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously, with breaking everything and then the Games being postponed, we already delayed trying for a baby,\u201d she said. \u201cThen we had issues being able to conceive, which was heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the difficult journey to parenthood, Grinham and her partner welcomed their first child together, son Christian, in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to hold off having a family anymore for the sake of my career,\u201d she told the IPC. \u201cI should be able to do both. And that is exactly what we decided. Here I am seven months pregnant, competing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grinham will compete again in the mixed team compound quarterfinals on Monday, giving her a second chance at a medal during the 2024 Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grinham returned to the Paralympic stage Thursday for the first time since Rio 2016, this time seven months pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grinham wrapped up her first competition Thursday morning in the women\u2019s individual compound open. She finished fourth and scored a personal best of 693. Later in the evening she and Nathan MacQueen placed second in the mixed team compound open ranking round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know I can do more, it\u2019s a personal best but there\u2019s lots of room for improvement,\u201d Grinham said. \u201cThe key for me was finishing in that top four, and that gives me a day off competition to focus on tweaking things and making myself better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grinham will return Saturday for the elimination round, which allows her rest from competition Friday. After having a minor scare earlier in the week the rest is luxurious. On Monday she had taken a trip to the hospital as the baby had stopped moving. Her doctors assured her everything looked normal and the baby was healthy. She said her doctor knew there was no point in asking her to rest now, but begged that once she finished competing to rest from everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Grinham, medaling in Paris is not just for herself. She said she hopes to set an example of female strength by bringing home the hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to be a mother and an athlete,\u201d Grinham said. \u201cI\u2019m not willing to sacrifice either of them but at home I am mummy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balancing her passion and responsibilities has been rewarding but nonetheless, taxing, she said. With her partner Christopher Greenan, she said they have learned the importance of separating family from work, which Grinham said allows for more time with her 2-year-old son Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I have, like, mummy hat and athlete hat, and if I\u2019m in athlete mode, then that is it,\u201d Grinham said. \u201cYou know, I am in an athlete mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grinham previously earned the silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics with partner John Stubbs in the mixed team compound and placed 10th in the individual competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Great Britain\u2019s Jodie Grinham has become the first pregnant Paralympic athlete to win a medal. Grinham\u2019s history-making win was announced on the official Instagram account for the Paralympics on Saturday after she took home bronze in women\u2019s individual compound while seven months pregnant at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. On her journey to bronze, Grinham defeated her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31694,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5782],"tags":[30303,1654,8944],"class_list":["post-31693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ep","tag-grinham","tag-pregnant","tag-win"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31695,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31693\/revisions\/31695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}