Paralympian wins bronze while seven months pregnant: 'The baby hasn't stopped [kicking]!'

Britain's Jodie Grinham has impressed the world by competing in the Paralympics while pregnant. 

The archer, 31, has been training and competing whilst pregnant for seven months and is one of the only women to have done so openly. 

Born without fingers and half a thumb on her left hand, Grinham won a silver medal in the mixed doubles event at the Rio Games. 

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Over the weekend, she made history as the first person to win a medal in the Paralympics whilst publicly pregnant, taking home bronze in the Women's Compound.

Speaking with reporters after her monumental victory, the athlete said her baby had been kicking throughout the competition. 

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"Oh my gosh, the baby hasn't stopped!" she said per, France 24. "It's like the baby's going, 'what's going on, it's really loud, mummy what are you doing!' 

"But it's been lovely, it's been like a little honour to know that the baby's there and just a reminder of the little support bubble that I've got in my belly. I wouldn't change it for the world."

Due to the precision required in archery, Grinham did say that the baby's movements could have impacted her shot. 

"It was really starting to worry me – that the baby's going to move and I'm going to be at full draw and it's going to affect my shot," Grinham said.

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"And my coach and I spent a long time doing little pregnancy preps of her moving me, and moving the bump, so I could get used to that feeling."

"So even when I had shooting matches today, I'd be up at full draw, I'd feel that sensation, and it's almost like you acknowledge it and go, 'I know you're there, mummy loves you, I'll cuddle you in a minute'... and then I'd carry on doing my process," she said. 

"And then I'd give him like a little stroke after, like, 'it's okay, everything's fine'."

Prior to her victory, Grinham said that qualifying for the Palaympics whilst pregnant was already a huge achievement. 

"I've already achieved what women out there won't have done before, and actually I hope that is enough," she said. 

"The rest is all for me – if I can go out and win it, absolutely great, if women can find that inspirational, fantastic, but regardless, sport is sport, pregnancy is such a natural thing, there shouldn't be a separation. Let's put it together and do everything we can."

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