British archer Jodie Grinham has been receiving a lot of praise for her exceptional performance at the Paris Paralympics 2024. She became the first pregnant athlete at the Paralympics to win a medal. The talented 31-year-old managed to bag a bronze medal at the women’s individual compound open. What is even more commendable is that Jodie is currently seven months pregnant. The Paris Paralympics began on August 28, 2024, and will continue till September 8, 2024.
Jodie Grinham becomes first Paralympian to win medal while pregnant
Grinham competed against Phoebe Paterson Pine, who won Gold at the Tokyo Paralympics by a 142-141 scoreline. Talking to ESPN, she revealed that she faced many difficulties while preparing for the event. However, the Paralympian had trust in her abilities. She was confident that she could compete and even win a medal as long as the baby was healthy.
Grinham further revealed that she could feel the baby’s excitement as it could not stop kicking while her event was underway. She feels that the baby might have been startled by loud noise and cheers. Nevertheless, the Paralympian was elated to have her own support system with her.
Hailing from Cardigan, Ceredigion, Jodie is a law school graduate. She first started pursuing archery in 2008. In 2015, she was selected to represent Great Britain at the World Para-archery Championships in Germany. There, Grinham secured seventh place in the competition.
Jodie added another feather to her hat in 2016 when she and John Stubbs won a silver medal at the Rio Paralympics finale. The duo lost to their Chinese counterparts, Zhou Jiamin and Ai Xinliang.
As of now, Jodie Grinham has only one goal in sight. She aspires to win a second medal at the mixed team compound quarterfinals. There, she will team up with Nathan McQueen.
