Athletes who competed at the Olympics while pregnant

Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez competed in the Olympic fencing while she was seven months pregnant, and incredible achievement for anyone, but Hafez was able to pull off an astonishing victory!

Hafez was able to defeat Elizabeth Tartakovsky 15-13 in her opening round matchup before losing to South Korea’s Jeon Hayoung in the round of 16, per BBC Sport.

Hafez, 26, took to Instagram to tell her fans, “What appears to you as two players on the podium, they were actually three! It was me, my competitor, and my yet to come to our world little baby!”

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Hafez’s statement continued, “My baby and I had our fair share of challenges, be it both physical and emotional. The rollercoaster of pregnancy is tough on its own.”

Many new parents face a battle to find balance in their lives when expecting, but for Hafez, it may have been even more intense, with the Egyptian adding, “having to fight to keep the balance of life and sports was nothing short of strenuous, however worth it.”

Hafez, who has a degree in medicine, per Sky Sports, also claimed, “I'm lucky to have shared the trust of my husband (Ibrahim Ihab) and that of my family to be able to come this far.”

Hafez’s story is a remarkable one, but not unique, with other athletes competing while pregnant a number of times throughout Olympic history. Let’s take a look at some of the others to have done it!

Van Grunsven is the only equestrian rider to win Olympic titles in three consecutive Olympics, per the Hindustan Times. During the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the Dutchwoman won an Olympic gold whilst she was five months pregnant.

Team GB track cyclist Elinor Barker won a silver medal at the 2020 Olympics, winning a silver medal in the team pursuit. She announced her pregnancy on X (formerly Twitter) posting, “or the eagle eyed among you who have done the maths… yep, I was pregnant at the Tokyo Olympics!”

Suryani, from Malaysia, was 34 weeks pregnant during her battle for Olympic gold in the 10-metre women's air rifle at London 2012. Per BBC Sport, she was initially reticent to compete but eventually decided to, telling reporters, “everything is in order”.

Australian Anita Spring was four months pregnant during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, per SheKnows. Spring competed in the beach volleyball contest during the Games.

Portuguese canoe sprint athlete Joana Vasconcelos was three months pregnant during Tokyo 2020, per Olympedia. The European Canoe Association claims she wasn’t satisfied with her performances in Japan, but perhaps there is a ready-made excuse for her!

Possibly the only athlete to have competed in two games while pregnant, Pfohl was reportedly in the early stages of pregnancy during the 2000 Games as she competed in the archery competitions, eventually winning gold. More remarkable still is her performance four years later, where she competed seven months into her pregnancy.

Zaragoza did not realise she was pregnant, leading to a disappointing performance in the women’s 5,000m event. She told the Adventure Sports Journal, “It turns out I was pregnant! We had been trying to get pregnant for four years, tried everything and couldn’t do it until then.”

Mara Navarria was hoping to compete for a medal at the London 2012 Olympics, but she discovered she was pregnant early in the Games. Having returned to the Olympics in 2024, the Italian was able to win a gold medal in the team epee event.

Everyone who manages to reach an Olympics must be considered one of the greatest athletes in the world, so for these athletes to reach that level and, in some cases battle for, or even win, medals is truly an incredible feat.

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