Paralympics, Jodie Grinham medals at 28 weeks pregnant: "A bronze won by two"

Winning a Paralympic medal with a pregnancy in progress for 28 weeks: that's what the British archer managed to do on Saturday night Jodie Grinham, 31 years old, the first athlete to compete in the Paralympics despite being pregnant and capable, then, to also give yourself the bronze medal in the individual bow tournament female compound. A bronze “that we won in two”, said the athlete at the end of a race that saw her enter Paralympic history precisely for this singularity that marks another significant step in the relationship between elite sport and disability. Grinham, who two years ago became mother of a 7 month old baby, he said he was aware of the risk of giving birth during the test, or immediately after, and for this reason it was constantly in contact with a Parisian clinic for possible hospitalization in case of water breaking. Born in 1993, Grinham is a Paralympic athlete due to a congenital malformation (in her case excessive shortness of all fingers of the left hand), in the final for third place she beat her compatriot Phoebe Paterson Pine with a score of 142 to 141, taking home her second Paralympic medal after the one she won in the team compound event in Rio 2016. “Having a family It's not as easy as many people think, I have had in the past three miscarriages, and the worst thing I could imagine was to compete here in the first three months of pregnancy. The fear of a new miscarriage would have definitely affected me. Instead now that I am 7 months pregnant the only thing that can happen to me is give birth here in Paris. Of course I would have preferred to get pregnant at another time, but it was not possible Separate pregnancy from the Paralympics, and I was lucky. This all fit in well with the Paris schedule, which included a mid-session, one after lunch, and one at sunset. My body was prepared. So now there were two of us to take this medal. I'm super happy", were her words at the end of the race. Of course, some technical adjustments were necessary to allow her to compete, such as the positioning of the arrow support belt, not fastened on the belly but lower, but everything went well. Grinham will remain in Paris for a few more days, before returning home: "The most important thing would be coming home with a baby in your arms, because this is the most beautiful conquest of life, more than a medal".