Nada Hafez isn't your average world-class athlete. She's competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics — while seven months pregnant.
The Egyptian competitor, just a month shy of turning 27 years old, earned a spot at her third Olympic Games, having first competing in Rio in 2016 and then the much-delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo, where she placed 36th and 29th, respectively. This year, she's back, and she made a surprise announcement after a match.
"7 MONTHS PREGNANT OLYMPIAN!" Hafez wrote on Instagram on Monday. "What appears to you as two players on the podium, they were actually three! It was me, my competitor, & my yet-to-come to our world, little baby!"
Hafez said that she and her unborn child have "had our fair share of challenges, be it both physical & emotional."
"The rollercoaster of pregnancy is tough on its own, but having to fight to keep the balance of life & sports was nothing short of strenuous, however worth it," she said, thanking her husband and family for their support. "I'm writing this post to say that pride fills my being for securing my place in the round of 16!"
Hafez isn't just a fencer, she is also a previous national gymnastics champion in Egypt, according to the International Fencing Federation, and studied medicine at Cairo University. On her Instagram account, she says she is a clinical pathologist.
Fencing starts with 64 competitors in the women's sabre individual competition. Hafez was among the final 16 to compete, losing to Korea's Jeon Hayoung with a final score of 15-7. Hayoung went on to lose in the next round to Korea's Choi Sebin. France's Manon Apithy-Brunet took home the gold and Sara Balzer took home silver, while Ukraine's Olga Kharlan won bronze.
Even though she didn't win, Hafez says, "I'm lucky."
"This specific Olympics was different," she wrote on Instagram. "Three times *Olympian* but this time carrying a little Olympian one."
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