“There Is No Stigma” Everyone’s Obsessed With Pregnant Paralympian Jodie Grinham

Clutching her bronze medal and grinning, Jodie Grinham and her baby bump will be one of enduring images of the 2025 Paris Paralympics. The British para-archer became the first pregnant athlete to win a paralympic medal on Saturday.

One of a host of incredible female para-athletes, Grinham is an incredible inspiration. But it hasn’t been an easy road for the archer, who spent the weekend previous to the event in hospital, worrying that the baby hadn’t moved. The archer also made sure she had a detailed plan in place around where the nearest maternity hospital was to the competition venue at the Esplanade des Invalides in Paris.

On the day though, Grinham says the baby was in full kicking mode. “Baby hasn’t stopped kicking, it’s almost like baby’s going, ‘What’s going on, it’s really loud, mummy what are you doing?'” she told ParalympicsGB. “But it has been a lovely reminder of the support bubble I have in my belly.”

Grinham joins a select group of pregnant athletes this summer – Egyptian athlete Nada Hafez captured worldwide headlines when she revealed she was seven months pregnant while competing in the fencing at the Olympics in August. Team GB’s Amber Rutter won a skeet shooting silver at the same games. A record nine mothers represented Team GB at the Olympic Games and more mums than ever took part in this year’s Olympics and Paralympics – much was made of the Paris village having a nursery for the first time ever.

“I’m really proud of myself, I’ve had difficulties and it’s not been easy,” said Grinham, who competes today in the mixed team event. “But as long as I’m healthy and baby’s healthy, I knew I could compete. I knew if I shot as well as I could, baby or not, I could come back as a medal.

“There is no stigma, the stereotype of things is completely irrelevant. If you feel able to do it, go and do it. If you want to start jogging or go to the gym, if your doctor says it’s fine, do it.

“If you’re happy and healthy, the baby is happy and healthy too. If I worked in an office, they’d have me there for another 12 weeks working so what difference does this make?”

Of course, the physicality of the job of an athlete is different, and what has captured the imaginations of us all and the headlines to match. But Grinham is right when she says in many ways it should be completely irrelevant and without stereotype. In many ways, there will be complete equality for female athletes when it’s barely mentioned that they are mothers. And while it’ll never be “normal” to be winning medals at the highest levels while pregnant, it will always be incredible, it can be something we praise with little further comment.

Rhiannon Evans is the interim content director at PS UK. Rhiannon has been a journalist for 17 years, starting at local newspapers before moving to work for Heat magazine and Grazia. As a senior editor at Grazia, she helped launch parenting brand The Juggle, worked across brand partnerships, and launched the “Grazia Life Advice” podcast. An NCE-qualified journalist (yes, with a 120-words-per-minute shorthand), she has written for The Guardian, Vice and Refinery29.