British archer Jodie Grinham wins historic Paralympic gold and bronze amid baby kicks while seven months pregnant
Great Britain’s Jodie Grinham competes against compatriot Phoebe Paterson Pine in the Para Archery Women’s Individual compound Open Bronze Medal contest at Esplanade Des Invalides on August 31, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
PARIS, September 2, 2024 - British archer Jodie Grinham, who is seven months pregnant, needed to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her unborn baby as she aimed her bow at bronze in the women’s individual compound open on Saturday. “The baby’s kicking which is great – we got to the third end and I was like, ‘Not right now, mommy loves you but we’ll do kickies in a minute,” she said afterwards, per paralympic.org.
“The baby hasn’t stopped, it’s like the baby is going, ‘What’s going on, it’s really loud, mommy, what are you doing?’ But it’s been like a little honor knowing that the baby’s there and just a reminder of the little support bubble that I’ve got in my tummy,” she added.
‘JUST GO AND DO IT’ The 31-year-old beat her compatriot Phoebe Paterson Pine 142-141 to become the first ever openly pregnant athlete to win a Paralympic medal. “I didn’t want people to see it as, ‘Oh, there’s a pregnant lady going to a Games,’” she said. “I want them to say, ‘Wow, a pregnant lady can compete at the highest level and medal,’ showing you anything is possible. Just go and do it. You want to do it? Then do it,” Grinham, who won silver with John Stubbs in the mixed doubles in Rio 2016 told reporters.
WINNING GOLD While her initial feat continued to attract worldwide attention, the Welsh para-archer secured her second medal of Paris 2024 on Monday, clinching gold alongside Nathan Macqueen from Scotland for Great Britain in the mixed team compound final after beating Iran 155-151.
“The little one was definitely more behaved today. I'm not going to lie,” Jodie smiled and stroked her belly.
PREGNANCY PREPS Being heavily pregnant meant Grinham, born with no fingers and half a thumb on her left hand, had to get used to remaining concentrated during competition in the face of baby movements in her womb. “It was really starting to worry me – that the baby’s going to move and I’m going to be at full draw and it’s going to affect my shot,” Grinham said. “And my coach and I spent a long time doing little pregnancy preps of her moving me and moving the bumb, so I can get used to that feeling.”
FERTILITY ISSUES Grinham has been open about the issues she and her partner faced trying to conceive, including three miscarriages, before the birth of her first child, Christian, who is now two years old. She told paralympic.org that even her pregnancy with Christian was “terrifying”. She ended up going into early labour - at 28 weeks - and her son, who had severe jaundice and needed a blood transfusion, was in an incubator for the first 10 days and another five weeks with a nebuliser.
“Thankfully, this pregnancy has been nothing like what we went through with him. We don’t know if we are having a boy or a girl. As long as the baby is happy and healthy, that’s all we care about,” said Grinham, who visited a hospital in Paris for a check-up after a scare last week before being cleared to compete.
“The baby hasn’t stopped, it’s like the baby is going, ‘What’s going on, it’s really loud, mommy, what are you doing?’ But it’s been like a little honor knowing that the baby’s there and just a reminder of the little support bubble that I’ve got in my tummy,” she added.
‘JUST GO AND DO IT’ The 31-year-old beat her compatriot Phoebe Paterson Pine 142-141 to become the first ever openly pregnant athlete to win a Paralympic medal. “I didn’t want people to see it as, ‘Oh, there’s a pregnant lady going to a Games,’” she said. “I want them to say, ‘Wow, a pregnant lady can compete at the highest level and medal,’ showing you anything is possible. Just go and do it. You want to do it? Then do it,” Grinham, who won silver with John Stubbs in the mixed doubles in Rio 2016 told reporters.
WINNING GOLD While her initial feat continued to attract worldwide attention, the Welsh para-archer secured her second medal of Paris 2024 on Monday, clinching gold alongside Nathan Macqueen from Scotland for Great Britain in the mixed team compound final after beating Iran 155-151.
“The little one was definitely more behaved today. I'm not going to lie,” Jodie smiled and stroked her belly.
PREGNANCY PREPS Being heavily pregnant meant Grinham, born with no fingers and half a thumb on her left hand, had to get used to remaining concentrated during competition in the face of baby movements in her womb. “It was really starting to worry me – that the baby’s going to move and I’m going to be at full draw and it’s going to affect my shot,” Grinham said. “And my coach and I spent a long time doing little pregnancy preps of her moving me and moving the bumb, so I can get used to that feeling.”
FERTILITY ISSUES Grinham has been open about the issues she and her partner faced trying to conceive, including three miscarriages, before the birth of her first child, Christian, who is now two years old. She told paralympic.org that even her pregnancy with Christian was “terrifying”. She ended up going into early labour - at 28 weeks - and her son, who had severe jaundice and needed a blood transfusion, was in an incubator for the first 10 days and another five weeks with a nebuliser.
“Thankfully, this pregnancy has been nothing like what we went through with him. We don’t know if we are having a boy or a girl. As long as the baby is happy and healthy, that’s all we care about,” said Grinham, who visited a hospital in Paris for a check-up after a scare last week before being cleared to compete.
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