Pregnant Para-Archer: Who is seven months pregnant with a baby, para archer, and Nathan Macqueen her teammate, have won Great Britain’s gold medal in the mixed team compound final of the Paralympics in Paris. They managed to beat Iran by 155-151 in the remaining times. This must be a great moment for Grinham as having won a bronze medal in the games earlier.
This victory adds to her collection since the day before, she had to push aside her teammate Petra Paterson Pine to claim the centerpiece women’s compound bronze medal. There have been hurdles in Grinham’s rise to the top, including competing while heavily pregnant. Her battle has captured the attention of the media around the world and provides a great message to women.
Close, Very Close
The gold medal showdown with Iran was a close battle. In the final, going out were the British pair comprising Grinham and Nathan Macauen from Scotland. Till the second end change, the British were ahead by a point of one (39-38) lead. It was level after the second at 77 – 77 making it heart-stopping.
Navigating through two low-scoring 8s by Iran’s Hadi Nori gave Team GB an important lead at the end (115-113) –! Grinham and Macqueen took such an opening without mistakes and finished with the set score of 40, therefore getting the overall victory and the gold medal.
Grinham’s joy
Grinham, who won team compound silver in Rio 2016 against John Stubbs, was so deeply moved by her victory that she could not contain herself after the victory. “They won’t force you to do something…. by then all I did want to was jump, cry, scream shout, go up and down the room,” she said to BBC Wales. “Unfortunately because of my improved condition, being pregnant, the most logical course of action was to sit down by the man and wait and then give hugs and other things.”
31 years of age archer, who was completely engrossed in such an experience described it as a sheer ‘a wave of an emotion’ and rather pinpointed it to that of a kid receiving the most desired toy on Christmas day.
A Message of Determination and Resilience
The very fact that Grinham made it a point to participate in the Paralympics while pregnant is a different kind of determination and resilience. Given that she has a toddler Christian and another baby is on the way, Grinham would say something about the power and potential of women.
Nonetheless, the journey to Paris was quite a challenge. It has been a week of bad news that fortunately, last week, Grinham managed to visit a hospital in Paris for a check-up. Luckily she was given a clean bill of health and was allowed to compete and made history in the archery range.
A Formidable Partnership with Nathan Macqueen
Grinham most likely achieved success at the Games through the assistance of Nathan Macqueen, a 33-year-old archer from Scotland who became disabled at the age of 18 after a motorcycle accident. The two had great coordination and worked together with a shared purpose during the whole of the tournament. After placing second to Indian opponents in the qualification fold on Thursday, they received a bye to the quarter-finals.
Pregnant Para-Archer: They overcame Australia by a score of 150-141 in the quarter-finals, and a 156-149 triumph against Italy in the semi-finals sent them to the final with Iran.
“Nothing is impossible was the essence of the concept and run out onto the floor and smash it,” Grinham said. She viewed Macqueen as an “amazing team partner” and that doing my essays was not going to let her down so she did.
Honoring an Indomitable Will
Grinham’s success is not merely a single person’s success, it is a triumph of the will and tenacity over adversity of all peoples. Her story of how to get to Paris turned out to be motivational for many people including the women who want to achieve their goals no matter what. For Grinham and Macqueen, achieving victory speaks volumes of their long hours of training, commitment, the unbreakable team spirit.
For Grinham, this gold medal represents the pinnacle of professional development thank you for writing it in my card and solidifies the continuity of uninterrupted growth in British victories in the archery paralympic sport. It also strengthens the message that everything is possible – even to win gold when 7 months pregnant with a supported team.
