Paralympian Jodie Grinham MBE, who won bronze and gold at the Paris Paralumpics, did a Q&A about her life and achievements at the Manor Royal Recognition Awards held at Crawley Town Football Club.
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00:00Jodie grew up in Crawley and still lives in Crawley so it's fantastic that she's here today and an amazing story that Jodie has got to tell and I'm going to share some of that with us today this afternoon as well as helping us with the presentation of the awards which we're going to move on to in a very short while.
00:22So if I can if you would like to make Jodie really really welcome to hear her story Jodie Grinham MBE.
00:41That's more difficult than winning a gold medal at the Paralympics.
00:46Crikey it does feel a little bit awkward then. Do you feel safe?
00:49I feel safe I just I feel like I'm just spinning this way.
00:55Hi. I'm just going to go like this.
01:00We'll try and make this work.
01:02Okay look thanks for joining us today Jodie and being our guest speaker.
01:07It's great and it's great that you're from Crawley and when we were thinking about these awards we really wanted to find somebody and kind of embody the spirit of Man and World.
01:17So we hunted you down and I'm very glad that you agreed to come and join us here today. Thank you.
01:22Oh that's all right. Thank you for having me. It was really nice watching the presentation to be honest because I was like I remember that.
01:28I remember when that changed so it was really nice.
01:30Thank you for saying that. So I've got a few questions for you and what I'm going to do though is if we go through our story or your story if there are any questions that the audience has feel free in the interest of having fun and being informal to put your hand up shout out any questions you might have for Jodie.
01:47Jodie is absolutely cool.
01:48Jodie is absolutely cool. Is that right?
01:49Give me a little heckle. It's fine.
01:50Absolutely. So Jodie, you talked a little bit about your amazing success at the Paralympics, Super Paralympics 2016 and last year 2024 and we'll come on to that a bit later.
02:03But for those of you who don't know what compound archery is, your sport, what you do, can you explain a little bit about that? Because the piece of kit is phenomenal and you have a really, really tiny target but a really, really long way away. Can you explain for the audience what that actually is, your sport is about?
02:23Yeah, so I do archery for those who do not know and I shoot a compound bow which is very different to the Olympic style bow with one string. So my bow actually has three strings. It's got a string and two cables on a pulley system so my arrows fly at 315 feet a second so I really wanted to bring it in and show you because she is my baby and beautiful but it's classed as a weapon so for my own good here and not getting arrested I decided it's probably not a good idea.
02:53So yes, I shoot compound, it's a distance of 50 metres so I was actually just explaining for some people that don't comprehend the distance of that, that it's half the size of a football pitch so I stand on the centre point and will shoot down to the goal post and my ten ring that I'm aiming at is the size of a digestive biscuit so the precision is absolutely crucial so even if you're like two mil off at this end, by that end you can miss the target.
03:21So when you have things like wind and rain and sun and heat, the temperature changes, like fluctuations are crazy so it's a very nitty gritty sport of anything can change it so that's probably why I love it so much.
03:35Yeah and it's that high level position, it's a really technical, it's a really skilful sport. I wish some of the Koi Town Strikers were as accurate.
03:47Ben's somewhere in the room scouting. How did you get into a sport like that?
03:52Stubbornness, very much stubbornness, yes. So I have dedicated my life into proving people wrong. So it was very much a case of my dad actually did archery and I used to go and watch, I had no interest because it looked incredibly boring.
04:06You shoot and collect and shoot and collect and it was only until I understood actually all the different elements that come into it that I got really interested but even then wasn't for me.
04:16However, one of the people from my dad's clubs, we used to shoot at Crawley Archery Club which believe it or not was out in like Red Hill Southfords way.
04:24So I wasn't in Crawley until we moved to Hazelwick and now we're in Peace Cottage so it's a lot better now.
04:31The member of the club had said that due to my disability I would never be able to shoot so that almost set a rocket up me and I have spent my life proving that person wrong and I have done a very good job and I'm very proud of that.
04:44But yeah, I've turned it into a career. I love that. So yeah, I just, I've never liked being told what I can and can't do because of my disability for those that don't know, I should probably explain that.
04:56So I was born with a condition called brachiosondactylite, please do not ask me to spell it, it's hard enough to say, which affects like my left hand.
05:04So I was born with no fingers and half a thumb on my hand, my arms are actually different lengths through my forearm and my shoulder isn't developed and it goes down the top of my left side into my left hip.
05:15So a lot of it you can't see, people just think it's my hand but yeah, so that is my disability and people just assume I can and can't do things which is not acceptable in my head.
05:26Well that's one of the things, one of the things I think is remarkable about your story is it must be in taking on a sport like that, that you come across all kinds of prejudices and kind of a group of people, maybe more than one, who are quite quick to put limits on what they think you could do or what you should do.
05:52So I imagine that when you kind of wanted to take on the sport that you were faced with all those kind of challenges, technical challenges but also kind of challenges of people's expectations, perceptions of you.
06:04Is that true and how do you deal with that?
06:06So I hid it, believe it or not, so I actually hid my hand from the sporting world for quite a while so I used to shoot constantly in long sleeves and then fold like the sleeve over so you couldn't see my hand.
06:18And I then shot for the Sussex Junior able bodied team and even then my coach didn't know I only had one hand because I used to just wear long sleeves and be one of those girls that wore long sleeves and no one questioned it.
06:33And it was only until my dad had informed my coach that I wasn't going to be available for one of the squad training weekends because I had to go to Brighton because the rehabilitation centre were going to make a prosthetic grip for my hand to fit properly.
06:45And my coach was like, why? We have grips, you know, we just go to the shop and buy a grip. And my dad was like, no, because of her disability, we have to go and get one made.
06:54And so from there, my Sussex coach was like, oh my gosh, why is no one flagged this, no one has looked at it. And they actually got a scout down from the GB team for the Paralympic team.
07:05To watch me and see if I had potential and then got invited to a talent identification day for the Paralympics to which I said no, because I didn't want to be viewed as disabled.
07:17I've been bullied. I've been told my disability is what holds people back. I didn't want to be seen as somebody that had a disability.
07:23So I refused to go. So my dad lied and told me we were going to a competition and took me because we went to competitions.
07:32That was normal. So I just turned up to this place and was like, there's no one here, Dad.
07:36It's like four of us. And he was like, surprise. So I cried very much. I cried my heart out.
07:42But I was like, that's all right, because you have to go through the classification process.
07:46So you sit with a medical team and they basically assess your body, how you move.
07:50That sounded really weird, but I promise you it's like all perfectly OK.
07:54And, you know, they assess everything because obviously if you're not classified to be like going to power score, then you just go down the normal way.
08:01Body, not normal, that's not what I meant, but like the other normal route that way of like, because there's two different normal selection processes.
08:09So and I sat there and I was like, I'm going to prove her wrong.
08:12So I went into this medical and I did everything I possibly could to show her that I was not disabled.
08:17And she sat down with me and was like, all right, so I've got news.
08:20Would you like the good news or the bad news?
08:22So being like 14, I was like, right, so she might think that good news and trying to suss it out.
08:28I was like, you know, just just give me the news.
08:30And she was like, right, so the bad news is that you have to be here more because the good news is you classify.
08:35And it broke my heart and I literally burst into tears because medically I had been told that I am disabled.
08:42And the one thing that I had tried to prove to people my whole life is I'm not disabled, to stop being bullied, to stop people treating me differently.
08:48Medically, I now had on paper that that was correct.
08:52So that was in 2010 and it took me probably a year to mentally come to terms with that.
08:59So I didn't really shoot.
09:00I didn't really have much to do with that.
09:01I went to a couple of training sessions, but wasn't sure that's the route I wanted to go down.
09:06There wasn't much really any way around for Parasport.
09:10It was still very low key.
09:12People weren't really that interested.
09:14And then they were like, well, we're doing a Paralympic inspiration program for this little event called the London Paralympics.
09:21Jodie, would you like to come and have a look?
09:23And I did.
09:24And I was part of this amazing inspiration program to inspire the next generation to get youngsters into sport,
09:30to get them into disabled athletes into the Paralympics.
09:34And London was phenomenal.
09:36You know, all of a sudden we had the UK behind us, not just for Olympic, but for Paralympic.
09:43And it sort of completely turned the UK's view on para athletes in sports.
09:49So then they opened up all these doors and all these different sport ways.
09:53So it was an absolute honor to be part of it.
09:55And I came back through and was like, do you know what?
09:57I want to do Rio.
09:59Let's do it.
10:00So I spent the next four years trying to decide because I was also then going into law.
10:04So I wanted to become a solicitor.
10:05And I've got people in my university then telling me that it's probably not a good idea to do both.
10:12Because when I wasn't studying, I was trying to compete.
10:14But when you're studying law, when you're not studying, you're meant to do pro bono work.
10:18And I was like, well, I can't do both.
10:20So I decided to pause my degree and put everything into being an athlete and going to Rio.
10:24And I did and got silver.
10:26So weird turn of events really for me.
10:29Totally.
10:30And it's really good.
10:31I think as a parent, lying is a really good parenting technique.
10:36I thought it was so good that your dad did.
10:40Because otherwise you wouldn't be on that journey, potentially.
10:42But it's really interesting to listen to you speak there.
10:44Because you went through this phase of, you know, it seemed denial.
10:48Where you kind of experienced that bullying.
10:51And then potentially when you started doing archery.
10:54Well, I've been appealed.
10:55I have been appealed so many times.
10:57So I've spent three years of my career.
11:00Every competition I went to, I was being appealed.
11:02Because people didn't understand that disabilities aren't always seen.
11:08So people would look at me and go, oh, she's missing some fingers.
11:11She's not disabled.
11:12She shouldn't be here.
11:13And they put a huge appeal in, which actually cost them lots and lots of money.
11:16And I have to go and sit with the medical team and get my x-rays out.
11:19And everything to go through like my scans and stuff.
11:22And they were like, yeah, it's no problem.
11:24They just wasted money.
11:25Off you go.
11:26So it took three years for really to get like a reputation on the circuit.
11:30For people to understand me.
11:31For people to talk to me.
11:32And actually now, when they get new people into the team.
11:35They're like, oh, it's Jodie.
11:36You don't know Jodie.
11:37It's just fine.
11:38And everyone's like, oh, okay.
11:39But it's become a lot more understanding as well.
11:42With the people knowing that it's not just, oh, you have an athlete.
11:45She's in a wheelchair.
11:46You know, disability isn't always seen.
11:48It's not always something that is just, if someone is walking around,
11:52it doesn't mean that they don't have something else.
11:54So that is really open to the eyes of sport.
11:57I would say it's a really interesting perspective.
11:59Because on the one hand, when you're younger, it was a case of people kind of treating you differently.
12:05Because you had that disability.
12:07And then later on.
12:08And you kind of try to fall in line with that.
12:10And to be normal.
12:12But then later on, making that adjustment mentally.
12:15To saying that I am.
12:16Then that community.
12:17And we're saying, you're not.
12:18Yeah, you're not.
12:19And so there must be something.
12:20And we, you know.
12:22It's very, you know.
12:23Mental resilience.
12:24Well-being.
12:25A lot.
12:26But there must be something about you.
12:28Mentally.
12:29Psychologically.
12:30Not the bad way.
12:31Might be.
12:32That has helped you to deal with that.
12:35I mean.
12:36Because it must have been so frustrating.
12:37There are different phases in your life.
12:38In different ways.
12:39What is it about you?
12:40How did you get that mental toughness to get you through those things?
12:44Well, as a child, my parents never let, like, my disability be an excuse.
12:50Ever.
12:51So it was never a case of like, oh, you know, I need Velcro.
12:54Because I can't do shoelaces.
12:55My dad was like, you can do shoelaces.
12:58And bless him.
12:59I know he did.
13:00Because he's told me.
13:01He was like, you know.
13:02He had spent days upon days learning how to tie shoelaces with his thumb.
13:06So then he could sit and teach me.
13:07You know.
13:08Riding a bike.
13:09He swapped the brakes around.
13:11So therefore, I didn't just fly over the handlebars every time I would break.
13:14You know.
13:15He taught me how to ride a motorbike.
13:16He, you know.
13:17He's done so many different things that he has spent time teaching me and learning how
13:21to do it.
13:22It's the same with like, holding the boat.
13:23How was I going to do it?
13:24He spent months.
13:25You know.
13:26We've gone to welding companies.
13:27We've gone down to Brighton.
13:28We've had different grips made.
13:29And it took about eight years for us to finalize on the fact that I just use a shoelace.
13:34So, you know.
13:35He always said that, you know, think outside the box.
13:38There is always going to be another way of doing things.
13:41You just have to find it.
13:42And if you can't speak to someone, someone will have a different perspective, a different
13:45outlook on it.
13:46And he taught me that and never let me live it out.
13:51Well, that's something that you've obviously taken on and has been formed a big part of
13:54you and a big part of your success.
13:55I mean, at parenting, he sounds like an amazing guy.
13:58He's prepared to lie to you.
14:00He does.
14:01He gives you tough love.
14:02I'm still finding stuff out now.
14:04You can call me naive all you want.
14:05I don't mind.
14:06I'm still finding stuff out now.
14:08So, you know, my dad rode a motorbike and I wasn't allowed on the back unless I wore,
14:12you know, a leather jacket and had the full kit.
14:15And as a kid, I wouldn't wear leather.
14:17It comes from an animal.
14:18So, he was like, no, this one comes from a leather tree.
14:21And I was like, oh, okay, Dad.
14:23So, he was like, school shoes.
14:24I wouldn't wear them.
14:25And he was like, it's from a leather tree.
14:26And this went on until about two or three years ago.
14:29I'm 31.
14:30Okay.
14:31Two or three years ago, my partner had finally finished his writing journal and was like,
14:36oh, I need a new book.
14:37And I was like, oh, where are you going to get it from?
14:39He's like, oh, I don't know.
14:40It's so hard to find like a really nice leather, whatever you call it, inholstered, you know,
14:45writing book.
14:46And I was like, yeah, but you mean like tree leather.
14:49And he's like, that's your dad, isn't it?
14:52And I was like, oh, no.
14:53You know, so I'm still finding things out that my dad has thankfully lied to me about getting
14:58me to do things.
14:59Fantastic.
15:00Well, you know what though, the thing is, joking aside that, you know, he always sounds like a
15:04guy and the quality that you have in yourself, obviously, is one is not to hear the word
15:08no.
15:09It's a problem that just needs a solution, isn't it?
15:12It's a solution waiting to happen.
15:13And you found it multiple times.
15:14A hundred percent.
15:15It was the same as last year.
15:16So I was actually seven months pregnant at the games and there was huge questions of
15:21whether or not I'd be allowed to compete, whether I'd be able to go.
15:24So I actually hid my pregnancy for five months.
15:29My coach knew, which is fine, my manager knew, but it was very much from the press, from anyone
15:34else like that, because we didn't want it to be like a huge hoo-ha before I got to the
15:38games.
15:39So we'd hid it.
15:40We'd done really well until the Paralympics when they announced the team was like,
15:44and we have pregnant athlete Jodie Grillam.
15:46I was like, oh, no.
15:47But, you know, it was all of those questions of should a pregnant athlete compete?
15:53Should anyone be traveling?
15:55Should this, should this, blah, blah, blah, blah.
15:57And quite frankly, if you have somebody that is medically professional in that industry
16:02telling you it's safe and healthy, and you feel safe and healthy, or you have people
16:06supporting you going, it's okay, there should never be a reason not to do it, not to try
16:11it.
16:12And that was what I did for Paris.
16:14And that's the other thing that's really remarkable about your story, and there's so many different
16:18dimensions to your story, but the one that you were seven months pregnant at the games,
16:23you got the bronze and the gold medal, and later being recognized for your contribution
16:32by having an MBE.
16:34I mean, did you, being pregnant is not normally an athlete's ideal kind of preparation for
16:42things?
16:43No, I was reminded of that a lot of times.
16:44Yeah.
16:45Did you ever actually consider putting that yourself?
16:47No.
16:48No.
16:49So, I have a two and a half year old.
16:52He is a little tornado.
16:53He is gorgeous.
16:54And sadly, we had actually held off and tried to plan around having a baby before Tokyo.
17:01So, my partner and I had planned it as an athlete doing a printed game.
17:05So, you know, you go through all what would you think is very logical for an athlete life
17:08and everything else.
17:10And then I had a fall and actually broke my ankle, my knee, my wrist, and my elbow six
17:17months out from Tokyo.
17:18So, I sadly didn't make it.
17:19And then with COVID, there wasn't the resources with being able to see physios and everything
17:24else.
17:25So, it actually made my recovery a lot more difficult.
17:28So, we put a stop on that and put my recovery.
17:32And then when we were trying to conceive, we had three losses and things weren't happening
17:36and I had to go for testing.
17:37And it became emotionally and mentally so draining.
17:41So, it's something that you would perceive as something so easy and natural to do.
17:46And I was really struggling with it.
17:48So, after we did have our little bundle of joy and got thankfully pregnant with our son,
17:54we agreed that we did want another one and I wasn't going to let Paris or LA or whenever
18:00that, if that happens for us, because we didn't even know if that was going to happen again,
18:04get in the way of it.
18:05You know, I had paused it once.
18:07We had had the consequences of that and everything ended up later than what we wanted.
18:11So, no, I made the decision with my partners, you know, back in.
18:16He was perfectly happy if we didn't have any more or whatever I wanted to do.
18:20And I was like, well, let's go for it.
18:22You know, we didn't use anything, any contraception.
18:26You know, and we just very much, we had a cut off because I didn't want to be in the first trimester
18:31going into the games because I knew that would not be a sensible decision.
18:35So, we had a cut off and we had tried for the whole time and we'd had losses
18:41and we'd had heartbreak and we knew that.
18:44And, yeah, thankfully, we actually found out I was pregnant whilst I was in hospital with meningitis.
18:49Woo!
18:51Last, when was that?
18:53Last February and March.
18:54So, there was already an Amin and Arab if I was even going to get to Paris because I was flown,
18:59I went into intensive care in Dubai and then was flown home and was in East Surrey for two weeks with meningitis.
19:05And then we found out I was pregnant there and it was like, this is amazing.
19:08And I was like, but this is awful.
19:10So, yeah, it was, we were like, brilliant, let's make it work.
19:14And my coach was like, great, we got this.
19:16So, yeah, it's wonderful.
19:18How did you run from?
19:19There's so many different aspects of that, you know, that we could dig into and we just
19:23don't have time now.
19:24But those, all those challenges, all those barriers, that determination that you have,
19:29that single-mindedness, that strength of character to say, when people are telling me,
19:34you can't, I will.
19:36And you make it happen and you achieve great success at the games.
19:39You came back with a bronze and a gold and one in the eye for those guys that said, no,
19:44I can't.
19:45And you did.
19:46I'm aware, though, that we are running short of time, Jodie, but just before we invite
19:51the guys to have their puddings and get into the awards ceremony yourself.
19:57What's life like post-games, having achieved the gold medal and red carpet gets rolled out
20:04all the time, I guess, and life's very different.
20:06What's it like for a Paralympian and what's next for Jodie?
20:11It's been very different this time.
20:13So I was a medalist after Rio and that in itself was like a huge thing and I was pulled
20:18pillar to post.
20:19And then after Tokyo, even though I didn't go, I was still pulled pillar to post because
20:24I was a previous medalist.
20:25I was expected to go but had an injury.
20:28So everyone was interested in the in the covid story of how it changed my recovery.
20:33And then after Paris, while I was in Paris, I was on my coaches and my manager were on like this absolute media block.
20:40Like no one was allowed to talk to me.
20:42No one was allowed to do anything.
20:43They don't want to stress me out.
20:44They don't want to stress the baby out.
20:46I'd spent three days in hospital in Paris because I'd started contracting and started to dilate.
20:50So everyone was already like on this watch list.
20:52So I was completely oblivious as to what was going on.
20:56And my partner was like, everyone keeps asking about you at home.
20:59And I was like, yeah, no, of course they do.
21:01I'm away.
21:02You know, I didn't actually clock what it was.
21:04And I flew home.
21:05I didn't fly.
21:06I haven't got a train.
21:07It's a lie.
21:08Sorry, guys.
21:09I got the train home early because I wasn't allowed to go to the closing ceremony.
21:12I'd finished competing.
21:14So they were like, can we just get you out?
21:15We won't.
21:16I was like, brilliant.
21:17So I managed to escape and spent a week home in peace before once the closing ceremony
21:22was done, everything just went on this uproar about this pregnant athlete.
21:26And my partner was like, I was telling you.
21:28I was like, no, you were saying everyone's asking about me.
21:30I thought you meant like my dad and, you know, family life.
21:33And there's press knocking at our door.
21:35And people were sending cards for me to come and do these talk shows.
21:38And I was like, no, I can't get into the middle of London by 8 a.m.
21:41I'm really sorry.
21:42And they're like, that's fine.
21:43We've got an Uber picking up at 5.
21:44And I was like, oh, my God, great.
21:46And it went absolutely mental.
21:48And I was booked solid.
21:50Like, I did not train from the 9th of September until, obviously, then I had a baby,
21:55so I didn't train after that.
21:56But I didn't get any training time.
21:58I didn't get anything done.
21:59So my water actually broke early.
22:02So my door was preterm, which then meant I had to cancel so much stuff.
22:07And I did feel bad.
22:08But I was trying to let people know that I'm heavily pregnant and things can change.
22:12And I apologize.
22:13So even now, I'm still trying to make up for the stuff that I'd missed from when my water broke.
22:19And we're trying to arrange that and sort it.
22:21But I'm now in competition season.
22:23So I fly to Italy in like two weeks for the European Cup.
22:26And so I'm like busy and I've been invited to the Royal Box at Wimbledon.
22:31I'm so excited.
22:33Like, I got my invitation.
22:34I didn't know what it was.
22:35I got my invitation through.
22:36And my coach was like, remember what you promised me 10 years ago?
22:38I was like, I don't know what the issue is.
22:39Like, you promised if you ever got this, you would take me.
22:42So excited.
22:43Well, in fairness, that's rubbish compared to coming here, isn't it?
22:47Well, I need time for this.
22:49I was like, Manor Royals.
22:50I literally have a stone throw from my house.
22:53I want to go.
22:54We really thank you so much for giving the time.
22:56You got another Paralympics coming?
22:57LA.
22:58So I'm hoping for LA.
22:59I won't know until like six weeks before.
23:01So we will see.
23:03Good luck for that, Jodie.
23:05You know, thanks so much for giving the time to spend your time with us here today.
23:08Share your story.
23:09There's so much more we could have talked about.
23:11But thanks for taking the time.
23:12You're going to stay with us for the rest of the day.
23:14And help to present the awards to our wonderful finalists.
23:17So in the meantime, though, thank you very much, Jodie.
23:20Thanks everyone.
23:21Thank you for having me.