An Egyptian fencer is showing the world that soon-to-be moms can both carry a pregnancy and compete at the highest level...the Olympics.
On Monday, July 30, star fencer Nada Hafez revealed that she is seventh months pregnant in a moving Instagram post that highlighted the power of women athletes and moms-to-be.
"(SEVEN) MONTHS PREGNANT OLYMPIAN!" the athlete posted on Instagram, along with a picture of her competing in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
"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 continued in the caption. "My baby & I had our fair share of challenges, be it both physical & emotional."
Hafez went on to say that "the rollercoaster of pregnancy" is "tough on its own," so the added difficulty of "having to fight to keep the balance of life and sports was nothing short of strenuous."
"I’m writing this post to say that pride fills my being for securing my place in the round of 16!" she added. "I’m lucky to have shared the trust of my husband @ibrahimihab11 and that of my family to be able to come this far. This specific Olympics was different; Three times *Olympian* but this time carrying a little Olympian one!"
Hafez is no stranger to the Olympic stage—the mom-to-be previously represented Egypt in both the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. Recently, she defeated American Elizabeth Tartakovsky, ranked 10th in the world, before ultimately falling short against Jeon Hayoung of South Korea.
Hafez recently married her husband, Ibrahim Ihab, on March 2, 2023, according to her Instagram. That month, she shared a series of wedding photographs along with their wedding date and a white heart emoji.
Hafez is also a former gymnast and has a degree in medicine. In another moving Instagram post, she talked about her life as both an athlete and a medical professional.
"I’m grateful I was able to lead a medical life alongside my athletic career," she wrote on Instagram, and while sharing a series of photographs. "I’m grateful that throughout those seven years, I was beyond honored and blessed to represent my country twice in the Olympics, and yet come back at the end of the day to all the books and lectures piled up for me, waiting for me to cram and study. I’m grateful that I outdid myself and went far beyond my capacity; it wasn’t the slightest easy."
"I’m grateful, more than anything, for my family for creating for me a home of love, support, care, and peace," she continued. "Of being my entire-life constants. I’m grateful for the duaas of Mamy and Pappy that have been the light guiding me to success. I would be nowhere without them.
"I’m grateful for my partner, Ibrahim, likewise. My partner in friendship, before all else. Then my partner in support, in cheering up, in aiming high, in dreaming big, in loving hard. In so many things. I’m grateful for this journey that had made us cross paths, and to join paths. The road is one."
