JEDDAH: Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez had a secret when she fought her way to the quarter finals of her event at the Paris Olympics — she was fencing for two.
Hafez, 26, from Cairo, is seven months pregnant, she revealed on Tuesday. “What appears to you as two players ... they were actually three! It was me, my competitor, and my yet-to-come to our world, little baby!” she wrote on social media.
These are Hafez’s third Olympics. She competed in Rio in 2016 and in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021. Ranked 26th in the world, she beat the higher-ranked American Elizabeth Tartakovsky in the saber event in Paris, before losing to Hayoung Jeon of South Korea on Monday. The highly demanding saber is a slashing weapon that demands lightning speed and reflexes from competitors.
South Korea’s Hayoung Jeon goes on the offensive against Nada Hafez, right. (Reuters)
Hafez is proud of her progress and the effort it required. “The rollercoaster of pregnancy is tough on its own, but having to fight to keep the balance of life and sports was nothing short of strenuous, however worth it,” she said.
She began fencing at the age of 11. “I first took up swimming and gymnastics, but then I had to leave gymnastics and I joined fencing by chance,” she said. “I felt like I wanted to try it after seeing my friend and once I did, I loved it.”
