Olympian Fencer Nada Hafez On Competing While Pregnant: "The Balance Of Life And Sports Was Nothing Short Of Strenuous"

The Paris Olympics 2024 are where the best of the best of the international sporting world compete on a global stage. Some of them are competing doubly hard too. Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez is a beaming example of this. In her latest post on Instagram, the 26-year-old sportswoman revealed that she had qualified to the round of 16 at the Summer Olympics, all while expecting a baby, no less. This week however, she lost to South Korea's Jeon Hayoung. Nada went into detail on the challenges that competing in the Olympics involved, which was made even tougher because she did it while she was 7 months into her pregnancy, announcing it as, "7 month pregnant Olympian".

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A post shared by Nada Hafez (@nada_hafez)

In the caption of the post, she wrote, "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!". She went on to speak about the typical troubles of pregnancy, exemplified by her athletic journey, saying, "My baby & I 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." As per The Athletic, Nada previously competed for Egypt at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics in the sport of sabre. It was her husband that was her rock through her journey, which she wrote, saying, "I'm lucky to have shared the trust of my husband @ibrahimihab11 and that of my family to be able to come this far."

Signing off, Nada said, "This specific Olympics was different; Three times *Olympian* but this time carrying a little Olympian one!", marking the life-changing experience that showed how gloriously she balanced a grueling sporting career and impending motherhood.

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