Many elite athletes plan their pregnancies around huge events like the Paralympics or Olympics. But Grinham and her partner Christopher Greenan chose to pursue having a baby now even though she knew it might mean she’d be far along by the time she got to Paris, she told Times Radio.
“Quite frankly, I wasn’t going to stop having a family for the sake of the Games. I believe that we should be able to have both,” she said.
Starting a family has been challenging. The 31-year-old has one child already, a son named Christian, who was born in October 2022. She was sick throughout her pregnancy, on bed rest by 16 weeks, and went into premature labor at 28 weeks, per The Athletic. Medications delayed Christian’s birth by another nine weeks, but he still spent 10 days in an incubator afterward.
She’s also lost three pregnancies. “We didn’t know if we were even going to be able to conceive another one. This might not ever happen for us,” she told The Athletic. “Getting pregnant is not as easy as people believe. It’s not that simple.”
Fortunately, she’s made it through to this stage in good health and able to continue high-level competition, thanks in part to the support of Archery GB and coach Charlotte Burgess, a former Olympic archer and a mother herself. “I think it is a milestone to show how far we have come as a country to be able to support someone and not go ‘you shouldn’t be doing this.’ For women, it is incredible,” Grinham told BBC Sport.
In addition to the kicking drills, there are a few other ways Grinham’s training has shifted. She often needs a nap in the middle of her 12-hour training days, she told Newsweek.
In addition, the quiver that holds her arrows no longer fit around her waist, so she got a belt to extend it, she told BBC Sport. She has to wear it lower, which changes how she lifts and holds the bow as well, according to The Athletic.
But despite those modifications, she’s heading into the Games confident in her skills and prepared for every possible outcome. “My team have joked a few times that my waters could just break on the podium,” she told The Athletic. Or, the baby might kick and lose her gold, though as she told Newsweek, “if I don’t bring a medal home, I get an amazing prize at the end of this anyway.”
Besides, no matter the outcome, the pursuit of both dreams will have been worth it, she told BBC Sport. “I love every minute of having my career and love every minute of being a mum. Why should I have to do it separately?” she said.
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