Commentary: Olympians are challenging gender norms by competing while pregnant

ONTARIO: Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez revealed she was seven months pregnant in an Instagram post after competing in the women’s individual sabre competition at the Paris Olympics. “What appears to you as two players on the podium, they were actually three! It was me, my competitor, and my yet-to-come to our world, little baby!”

Hafez defeated American Elizabeth Tartakovsky in the first round of the competition before losing to South Korea's Jeon Ha-young, which eliminated her from the competition. Hafez finished ranked 16th, achieving her best result in three Olympic appearances.

A day later, Azerbaijani archer Yaylagul Ramazanova also revealed on Instagram that she was six-and-a-half months pregnant while competing. Women athletes in various stages of pregnancy have continually challenged the perception of what a woman can do while pregnant.

In 2017, for instance, Alysia Montano competed in the US Track and Field Championships at eight months pregnant, beating her previous time set during her 2014 pregnancy. And in 2012, Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi, the first woman to participate in an Olympics for the country of Malaysia, competed in the Olympics in shooting while eight months pregnant.

Increasing numbers of elite athletes are competing while pregnant and returning to competition afterwards, demonstrating that pregnancy and high-level athletic performance can co-exist.

The Paris Olympics have highlighted the achievements of not only women, but also mothers, with 16 American mother-athletes alone competing in various events.

The success of many mother-athletes, such as New Zealanders Lucy Spoors and Brooke Francis who rowed together to win gold in double sculls, have shown it’s feasible to train safely during, and return to