Olympic Fencer Nada Hafez Filled With ‘Pride’ After Competing in Paris Games While 7 Months Pregnant

The 2024 games looked a little different for the three-time Olympian.

Nada Hafez / Al Bello/Getty Images

For Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez, the Olympics aren’t unchartered territory. The 26-year-old athlete has made two previous appearances on the international stage. At the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, she placed 36th in her event, the women’s individual sabre. And at the Tokyo Games in 2020, she moved her way up to 29th.

This year, she returned to the games for the third time. Much like her last Olympic appearance, the Paris Games saw Hafez make another jump up the rankings. She advanced to the round of 16 before falling to Korean fencer Jeon Hayoung.

Though the Olympics aren’t new to Hafez, there was one significant difference in her experience this time around: she competed in Paris while seven months pregnant.

The fencer revealed as much in an Instagram post following her event. “What appears to you as two players on the podium, they were actually three,” she wrote in the caption. “It was me, my competitor, & my yet-to-come to our world, little baby!”

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Admittedly, competing while pregnant wasn’t easy, but Hafez did it (and on the biggest stage in sports) all the same. “My baby & I had our fair share of challenges, be it both physical & emotional,” she explained. “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. I’m writing this post to say that pride fills my being for securing my place in the round of 16!”