Every athlete who reaches the Olympics is unique. There are many who have reached there after a very arduous journey. One such inspiring journey is that of Egyptian swordsman Nada Hafez. Nada, who caught everyone’s attention at the Paris Olympics, is seven months pregnant. With her baby in her belly, she also gave a winning opening in the preliminaries at the Olympics and made it to the final 16. Interestingly, after her match, she announced that she was pregnant through a post written on social media and everyone was shocked. She defeated American Elizabeth Tartakovsky 15–13 before exiting the tournament.
Pregnancy is said to be the second birth of a woman. Care is also taken in that regard. The sport that Nada represented not only requires a lot of hard work, but it is also a test of concentration and immense patience. Nada has passed all these tests, because she loves her sport from the bottom of her heart. Although she was eliminated from the competition, she won the hearts of not only Parisians, but audiences all over the world. The message she writes on her social media platforms shows that she has a lot of loyalty towards her sport. She writes, “I have a little future Olympian growing in my womb. Along with me, my baby also faced their own challenges in this competition. Be it physical or mental challenges. Pregnancy is a very tough journey. Balancing life and sports was a huge challenge. I am writing all this because getting into round 16 during the tournament is the biggest luck for me. ” Nada Hafez is in Cairo, the capital city of Egypt. This is her third Olympic event. Before taking up fencing, she was a gymnast. Apart from that, she has also studied in the field of medicine.
Olympic competition is a test of every athlete. Not only physically but also mentally exhausting. Challenges, pressure to win the competition are mental stress. Fencing requires a lot of physical strength. It requires speed, strategy and strength. Although female athletes are appearing in the field at par with men, fencing still remains a challenge for women. During pregnancy, women face a lot of mental instability. There are many changes in the body. Still, Nada says that it is a big deal that she participated in the competition and strongly considered for the competition. She has been learning swordsmanship since 2014. Seeing her friend in fencing made her want to do something in the sport as well. She was swimming earlier. After that she also learned gymnastics. Once she tried sword fighting for fun and then fell in love with it. Then she decided to pursue a career in fencing.
Pregnancy is a rollercoaster. Facing various agitations, every woman brings a soul into the world. Nada also had to go through a very fragile mental state. But she was accompanied by her husband Ibrahim Inab and her family during this difficult time. Nada says that this is why we have passed this sattva pariksha.
After getting out of the competition, she came into limelight due to a social media post she wrote. Her post was not only emotional but also showed her toughness. “You used to see two athletes on the podium, but actually there were three. Me, my competitor and my future little baby.” Nada, who says that an Olympian is growing in my belly, has previously represented Egypt in the Rio and Tokyo Olympics. But this tournament was very different and memorable for her. There is no doubt that the journey of Nada will be a thorn in the eyes of many people who stop or do not even start the journey, giving thousands of reasons to make up their imaginations.
