With the 2024 Olympic games coming to a close, I want to talk about 2 Olympians specifically. They didn’t make the medal podium, but they did make world wide history, or rather herstory. I confess that I didn’t watch the olympics this year. It would be like watching people rub in the fact that I can’t walk . But two women’s stories did jump out at me, and I just had to sing their praises.
First, I’d like to discuss Azerbaijan and archery and then Egypt and fencing. Two countries and two sports that don’t get much attention from the media, especially for the females in either sport.
This year, two women competitors overcame a large physical obstacle, being more than 6 months pregnant while competing for an Olympic medal đ . Both of these women had trained for years in order to get to the Paris games, and they weren’t about to let being visibly pregnant stop them.
Azerbaijan ‘s Yaylagul Ramazanova was 6 and a half months pregnant while a competing archer. While she did well, she didn’t medal. But she has captured hearts worldwide. I can only imagine how much her center of gravity and balance were thrown off by the baby growing inside her. She has said that she felt her baby kick, just before she shot a 10,the highest score for a single arrow in the sport. Talk about moral support!
Next up is Egypt’s Nada Hafez was 7 months pregnant while competing in her sport of fencing. Her opponents were fencing against two challengers ,so to speak. Nada is quoted as saying, “Our bodies can surprise us.”
Long gone are the days when, if a woman was pregnant, she needed to put her feet up and not lift so much as a finger. These women are proof that pregnancy shouldn’t stop you from achieving your dreams, no matter what they may be. These women are tougher than most of the male athletes at this year’s Olympic games and certainly tougher than any man who were lucky enough to have watched them competing in the 2024 Olympic games in Paris.
WELL DONE, LADIES AND đ đ đ đ đ đ BRAVO! You’ve both won the gold medal of this feminist’s lifelong admiration!
