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Fencer Nada Hafez Competes at Olympics While Seven Months Pregnant

The Egyptian fencer announced, “What appears to you as two players on the podium, they were actually three!”

Hafez, who is from Cairo and was appearing at her third Olympics, made her way to the final 16 in the women’s saber individual competition, shared that she had accomplished the feat while expecting her first child with husband Ibrahim Ihab, whom she married in March 2023. “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 continued before thanking her husband and family for their support. A former gymnast—national gymnastics champion in Egypt, according to the International Fencing Federation—with a degree in medicine from Cairo University, Hafez is a three-time Olympian who won gold medals in the individual and team saber events at the 2019 African Games.

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