Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez announced via Instagram that she played in round 16 of her event at the Paris 2024 Olympics while being seven months pregnant. Hafez, 26, won her first match 15-13 in the women’s individual fencing event against USA’s Elizabeth Tartakovsky. She then faced South Korea’s Jeon Hayoung in the round of 16 but was eventually knocked out.

"What appears to you as two players on the podium, they were actually three!,” she said. “It was me, my competitor, & my yet-to-come to our world, little baby! My baby & I had our fair share of challenges, be it both physical & emotional.”

The Paris Games meant more than ever to Hafez, who is already a three-time Olympian and has been a part of the Egyptian contingency in the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"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,” Hafez said in her post. "I'm writing this post to say that pride fills my being for securing my place in the round of 16".

The last 10 years

In 2014, Hafez joined the Egyptian National Senior Women's Sabre Fencing Team. The following year, she earned her first victory at the Egyptian Senior Women's Sabre National Republic Competition.

She qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics through the African zonal qualification in Algeria. In 2021, she once again earned a spot in the Olympics. Over the years, she secured a silver medal in the 2018 African Zonal Championship and bronze medals in 2014 and 2019. Additionally, she claimed a bronze medal at the Belgium Tournoi satellite.

"I’m lucky to have shared the trust of my husband and that of my family to be able to come this far,” Hafez added in her post. “This specific Olympics was different. Three times *Olympian* but this time carrying a little Olympian one!"