Haverfordwest-born archer Jodie Grinham shoots for gold at the Paralympics
Haverfordwest-born archer, Jodie Grinham, is shooting for gold this weekend as she competes in the Compound Women's Open at the Paris Paralympics.
But what makes this world class competitor's quest even more remarkable is that she will be taking to the stand whilst seven months pregnant.
"I'm pregnant - so what?" she said.
"If I worked in an office, they'd be fine for me to carry on working until I'm 39 weeks. So what's the difference for me competing at the Paralympics?"
Last Saturday, Jodie discovered that her baby had stopped moving. As a result, she spent the day at one of Paris' maternity units. Fortunately, baby was found to be perfectly healthy and so Grinham returned to the Esplanade des Invalides to continue her quest for gold.
Already the mother of two-year-old Christian, Jodie has a Paralympic silver to her name following her success at Rio in 2016.
Born in Haverfordwest in 1993, she studied law before focusing on becoming an athlete, despite having brachysyndactyly which limits the mobility of her fingers. She also has a shortened left arm, an underdeveloped left shoulder, no fingers and half a thumb on her left hand.
When she took up archery in 2008, her father, Symon, worked alongside her to develop a way in which she could successfully grip the bow. Their meticulous training resulted in her being selected for the GB archery team in 2014 and the following year she finished seventh at the World Para-archery Championships in Germany. In 2016 she competed in the women's individual compound open events at the Paralympics in Rio, where she reached the quarter finals in the individual event.
Earlier this year she took the individual compound women's open title at the European Para Cup, as well as the doubles compound open silver medal with Phoebe Paterson Pine. The duo also won the compound open doubles bronze medal at the European Para Championships.
Grinham set a new personal best when she was ranked fourth in qualifying for the Paralympics which earned her a place in the last eight of the competition. She will now return to the competition on Saturday for the elimination round.
"Medaling in Paris is not just for me, but will hopefully set an example of female strength by bringing home the hardware," she said. "I know I can do more, and despite having this personal best, there's still lots of room for improvement."
Our picture shows Jodie Grinham with her 2016 Paralympic silver medal.
Haverfordwest-born archer Jodie Grinham shoots for gold at the Paralympics
Haverfordwest-born archer, Jodie Grinham, is shooting for gold this weekend as she competes in the Compound Women's Open at the Paris Paralympics.
But what makes this world class competitor's quest even more remarkable is that she will be taking to the stand whilst seven months pregnant.
"I'm pregnant - so what?" she said.
"If I worked in an office, they'd be fine for me to carry on working until I'm 39 weeks. So what's the difference for me competing at the Paralympics?"
Last Saturday, Jodie discovered that her baby had stopped moving. As a result, she spent the day at one of Paris' maternity units. Fortunately, baby was found to be perfectly healthy and so Grinham returned to the Esplanade des Invalides to continue her quest for gold.
Already the mother of two-year-old Christian, Jodie has a Paralympic silver to her name following her success at Rio in 2016.
Born in Haverfordwest in 1993, she studied law before focusing on becoming an athlete, despite having brachysyndactyly which limits the mobility of her fingers. She also has a shortened left arm, an underdeveloped left shoulder, no fingers and half a thumb on her left hand.
When she took up archery in 2008, her father, Symon, worked alongside her to develop a way in which she could successfully grip the bow. Their meticulous training resulted in her being selected for the GB archery team in 2014 and the following year she finished seventh at the World Para-archery Championships in Germany. In 2016 she competed in the women's individual compound open events at the Paralympics in Rio, where she reached the quarter finals in the individual event.
Earlier this year she took the individual compound women's open title at the European Para Cup, as well as the doubles compound open silver medal with Phoebe Paterson Pine. The duo also won the compound open doubles bronze medal at the European Para Championships.
Grinham set a new personal best when she was ranked fourth in qualifying for the Paralympics which earned her a place in the last eight of the competition. She will now return to the competition on Saturday for the elimination round.
"Medaling in Paris is not just for me, but will hopefully set an example of female strength by bringing home the hardware," she said. "I know I can do more, and despite having this personal best, there's still lots of room for improvement."
Our picture shows Jodie Grinham with her 2016 Paralympic silver medal.