Jodie Grinham becomes first pregnant athlete to win a Paralympics medal

Great Britain’s Jodie Grinham returned to the Paralympics on Thursday for the first time since Rio 2016, this time seven months pregnant.

During the ranking stages in women’s individual compound open archery, she finished fourth and scored a personal best of 693.

She then won three tight matches en route to a bronze medal. The only defeat she sustained came from the dominant Oznur Cure Girdi, who eventually raced to the Paralympic gold in Paris.

HISTORY MADE
Jodie Grinham is the first pregnant athlete to podium at the @Paralympics. 🥉🇬🇧#ParaArchery #ArcheryInParis pic.twitter.com/TmFL0FVYvL

— World Archery (@worldarchery) September 1, 2024

On Sunday (1 September), the 31-year-old Grinham bagged a bronze medal in the event to capture attention as the first pregnant athlete to win a Paralympics medal.

In the bronze medal match, she beat her compatriot and the defending champion Phoebe Paterson Pine. Grinham trailed by two points ahead of the last end, but she pulled out a nine and two 10s to capture a medal.

“I wasn’t expecting that. I knew I could do it, but I didn’t mean ‘yeah, I’m gonna win a medal’. There was no guarantee,” she claimed.

“That’s one of the biggest things I’ve said in interviews. I know people were already going to look at me and say ‘Oh, well done, you’ve done it. You’ve competed pregnant’. But I didn’t want that. I wanted more.”

“I wanted to show that I am not here to participate pregnant. I am here to compete and win medals pregnant. And I think I got that cross, which I’m really glad about,” Grinham said.

She said she could feel the baby kicking. And got much more emotional.

“I definitely cried more than ever before, which is probably something!”

The Briton admitted to needing to adapt her shooting to the new circumstances.

“We’ve had to change stabilisation because the front is definitely becoming more heavy. It’s been the key to make sure about even daily changes. If I need to add weight, I just do it,” she explained.

“I accept that today is different. If the baby goes into my back, then I tip a bit more. So then we change the weight in the stabilisation again,” the bronze medalist went on, describing the adjustments she had to implement.

“It’s something that you do. Professional archers change equipment on the line 24/7. It’s no different than being pregnant. You’ve just got to be more aware about your body.”

The media attention on her surprised her. But it helped her to send the message she aimed for.

“I didn’t realise how much it’s an inspiration and how much people were interested and being affected by this,” Grinham frankly admitted.

“I didn’t want people to see as others a pregnant lady going to the Games. I want them to see: ‘Wow, a pregnant lady can compete at the highest level and get a medal’.”

“I wanted to show anything is possible. Just go and do it. If you want to do it, then do it.

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.

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.