Pictures: Rachael McKenna
She’s already won two gold medals at two Paralympics, putting her in the top echelon of Kiwi athletes. But when you factor in the fact that Anna Grimaldi is only 27 and now heading to her third Paralympic Games, her feats get more impressive still.
Yet as the superstar long jumper and sprinter prepares for Paris 2024, she’ll tell you her greatest achievement to date isn’t represented by the shiny gold discs she can hang around her neck. Rather, it’s the huge smile she wears as she chats to Woman’s Day.
“I couldn’t be more different from the person I was heading to the last Paralympic Games,” she confesses. “I’ve done quite a bit of work on myself to get to where I am, especially in the past 18 months because Tokyo was tough.”
Anna’s life hasn’t been the same since bursting onto the international athletics scene. At just 19 years-old, she won a gold medal in long jump at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics. But it was in the lead-up to the delayed Tokyo Games, and for a year or so after, where her mental health struggled as she battled with imposter syndrome and a stifling identity crisis.
“I was still finding my feet in the sport when I went to Rio. I’d only started three years before,” explains Anna. “So there wasn’t a lot of pressure on that one, but then Tokyo finally came around and I put way more pressure on myself. I thought I needed the gold in Tokyo to make the Rio gold feel more real or more valid. I didn’t think I really deserved it, like I was too inexperienced to win a gold medal.
“It was a weird identity crisis, that’s for sure. I felt like I didn’t know enough yet about myself to be a champion – I was just Anna Grimaldi, Paralympic gold medallist.
“Between Rio and Tokyo, I broke my foot and couldn’t jump. I really struggled with the fact that I couldn’t do the thing that I was supposed to do and it took me a long time to find the real Anna.”
After a lot of work with a psychologist, who helped her realise how much importance she was placing on her sporting achievements, Anna’s approach to her third Paralympic campaign could not be more different.
Now, she says, she couldn’t be more excited to head to Paris. She’s as determined as ever to jump the farthest she can and run the fastest she ever has. But it’s not something she’ll be thinking about at all costs.
“I’ve got to the point that now I feel really content about what I’ve done,” shares Anna. “I no longer think that in order to be the Paralympic champion I am, I have to keep on doing it. Now I know that those two golds aren’t going anywhere, no matter what happens, and I’m really proud of them. I’m confident and happy heading to Paris. I’m a two-time Paralympic champion, no matter what else happens, and that’s such a freeing feeling.”
Anna was born without her right hand. Now she has the best balance between sport and life that she’s ever had. She enjoys time at home in Dunedin with her group of best mates and her “yarn club” – a knitting club she formed with a friend – the spoils of which she’s proudly wearing.
“To be honest, it’s mostly yarns and not much knitting,” laughs Anna. “But I love it so much. I love that I can get out of my athlete bubble, and be social and happy with my friends.”
She’s also balancing a long-distance relationship with Australian Paralympian Jaryd Clifford, who is a middle-distance runner.
“I know, I know, he’s Australian!” she laughs. “How did I let this happen!? He’s awesome and it’s nice that while we’re both in athletics, his events are different from mine. We keep most of the sport stuff at training, but it’s helpful that we understand what the other’s going through.”
The pair have been together for just under a year, with Anna’s mission to make Jaryd fall in love with Dunedin.
“It’s going pretty well, I think!” she enthuses. “He comes over here and I go there. It’s worked out really well.”
Of course, they’ll both be supporting each other in Paris, with some of their events even overlapping in the same stadium.
“I think my 100-metre heat is on the same day as his race, which is cool. It’s nice to have each other there. Last time he was with me at an event, I made him hold a New Zealand flag. I think I’ll do the same again!
“I’m honestly just so excited. I think I’ve realised that over the last year, ‘sport Anna’ only thrives if ‘Anna Anna’ is thriving too. I think that’s the case right now.”
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