Paris 2024: Para archer Jodie Grinham goes for gold at 28 weeks pregnant

Great British Para archer Jodie Grinham is competing on sport’s greatest stage at seven months pregnant, showing that women everywhere can do both family and career. 

Grinham, competing in Para archery, has been open about her journey through fertility issues, pregnancy losses, a traumatic first pregnancy and now how she's managing at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

"I'm not going to hold off having a family anymore for the sake of my career. I should be able to do both. And that is exactly what we decided. Here I am seven months pregnant, competing. "

“I am hoping to medal. I'd be disappointed if I don't," Grinham told the IPC.

With her pink hair she’s not easy to miss, but she will also be the only Para athlete competing with a very clear baby bump.  

She debuted at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, gaining a silver medal with her partner, but had to miss competing in Tokyo due to a fall that caused a broken right elbow, wrist, knee and ankle. 

Considering conceiving alongside competitions

“It's really weird when you're an athlete and you're a female, if you want children, it is a constant thing of 'when am I going to be able to time this?' Can I compete?" Grinham explained.

She had decided against trying to conceive through Rio 2016 due to the Zika virus and related risks, so her and her partner decided to wait until after Tokyo 2020.

"Obviously, with breaking everything and then the Games being postponed, we already delayed trying for a baby. Then we had issues being able to conceive, which was heartbreaking," she said.

“You feel like a failure” 

Grinham had her son, Christian in 2022, but the journey to starting her family wasn't an easy one.

“We lost three trying to get our son," she shared.

"I lost my first one, we went to hospital. You do the breakdown in bed and the cuddles, and you feel like the failure. A woman's body is, is produced to have a baby, and yet I didn't achieve what I was meant to achieve. You have all these horrible thoughts."

“By the time we'd lost our third it was just like, are you kidding? We're then going through all the treatments and looking down the routes of IVF or adoption. You're having these conversations that you didn't think you'd ever be having, as well as trying to train and compete."

Advocating for more open conversation 

Grinham has spoken out openly about fertility and the issues that women face. According to the World Health Organisation one in four women face miscarriages or early pregnancy loss, and so this issue needs to be spoken about more openly, believes Grinham. 

“We don't talk about periods, and even the fact that women bleed once a month. It can affect people's training, I really struggle being in the gym that week, but we don't want to talk about that. Let alone the next big thing early pregnancy loss or miscarriages,” Grinham said.

She believes that with her support system she's been luckier than most.

“It never got easier to talk about. But I knew I had people to talk to. I explained to my coach, my manager. ‘Look, I'm feeling really low', and how my body's reacting, and be able to have those conversations, which makes training and performance so much easier because people could help me,” she explained. 

“The fact that it's such a taboo subject makes it already difficult for women to get support, let alone your natural instinct is that you have failed so you are dealing with so much on your own that it needs to become a topic.” 

“You feel alone. You feel like it's only you. I do think it needs to be something more spoken about, just for the help of other people out there.” 

Pregnancy complications 

After the three pregnancy losses, Grinham explained that her pregnancy with her son Christian was 'terrifying'.

"All the way through the pregnancy, it is even more things that women don't talk about. You know, I didn't go to the toilet once and feel carefree, you're constantly worried."

And after all this, Grinham then went into early labour. If this same circumstance were to occur again, at the same timing, then it would be the weekend of 31 August-1 September when she is competing.

"I went into early labour. He ended up with severe jaundice, and he needed a blood transfusion, he was in an incubator for the first 10 days, and he needed a nebuliser for five weeks. So it was just horrendous," she told us.

"Thankfully, this pregnancy has been nothing like what we went through with him. We don't know if we're having a boy or a girl. As long as the baby is happy and healthy, that that that's all we care about."

Grinham has a medical team briefed and ready in case of any issues. Her team have a midwife and nurse on site, have considered what happens if the baby is born in France, and even how to manage birth certificates.

"I've got an amazing support system. I know I'm looked after and the baby is looked after."

Hospital visit during Paris 2024

Grinham has already been to hospital once in Paris so far, but has continued attending her training and competed in her first event, the individual compound open ranking round, shooting a personal best score of 693.

"We had really bad reduced movements, and I thought I was just getting Braxton Hicks, and they were concerned they could just be early contractions," she explained of the hospital visit.

With constant vigiliance needed for her and her baby, it's understandable that it's a lot to manage for the Para athlete, but she is set on competing.

"I'm going to do everything I can to compete and shoot. Being disabled and being pregnant is hard enough, being an athlete and being pregnant is hard enough, combining all of it... It's been it's been a journey. It's been eventful."

Grinham next competes on Saturday 31 August in the individual compound open elimination match, against Poland's Kzeniya Markitantova.