The seventh month of pregnancy typically involves hip and lower back pain, increased fatigue and shortness of breath. Not competing and winning in the Summer Olympics.
But Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez is anything but typical. Hafez, 26, revealed Monday that she competed in women’s sabre competition — advancing to the round of 16 — while seven months pregnant.
“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 wrote on Instagram.
“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 wrote. “I’m writing this post to say that pride fills my being for securing my place in the round of 16!”
Hafez defeated American world No. 10 Elizabeth Tartakovsky in the round of 32 before losing to Jeon Hayoung of South Korea. She previously competed for Egypt at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics in sabre. Hafez entered the Olympics as the 29th-ranked sabre in the world and Egypt’s top competitor, according to the International Fencing Federation.
She wrote that she’s leaving Paris with a different sense of pride than her two previous trips to the Games.
“This specific Olympics was different; Three times *Olympian* but this time carrying a little Olympian one!” Hafez wrote, capping her announcement with a fitting heart emoji.
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(Photo: Carl Recine / Getty Images)