Rachael McKenna
Good things take time, so the saying goes. But Anna Grimaldi takingseven years to reply to an Instagram message – from the man who would turn out to be the love of your life, no less – is taking it to the next level!
“Look, I’m sorry!” laughs the 28-year-old, three-time Paralympic gold medallist and recent Halberg Award recipient as her partner, Australian Paralympic legend Jaryd Clifford, 25, shakes his head
in mock exasperation.
Good things take time
For a gal who’s become known for her lightning-fast speed, the sprinting and long jump superstar admits she was a little slow on the uptake to return the affections of her Aussie-based beau, but as she and Jaryd chat to Woman’s Day almost two years into their relationship, it’s clear the trans-Tasman couple were meant to be.
Says middle-distance runner Jaryd, “I remember seeing Anna in 2015 at the world championships. Australia and New Zealand tend to buddy up a lot at these things. We were at the same hotel and I remember seeing her that first time in the dining hall with her frizzy hair and thinking, ‘Wow!’
“I then messaged her when she won gold a year later in Rio… and she left me on read!”
Still, the pair managed to find their way to each other in 2023 after, Anna admits, one of the toughest periods of her life. Following her success at the 2016 Paralympics, where she won a gold medal in long jump, Anna defended her title at the delayed 2021 Tokyo Games but struggled mentally with impostor syndrome in the immediate aftermath.
Anna explains, “I’d had a rough couple of years after Tokyo – I’d gotten lost, I wasn’t enjoying sport that much and I didn’t know who I was. But the clouds were lifting a bit in 2023 and I saw an article that Jaryd had given an interview for, where he was talking about going through similar things and how he was trying to find love for the sport again. I gasped when I read it as it resonated so much with me.
“I messaged him about it. Then we ended up talking and we realised that there was a connection there.”
Living life as a long-distance couple
Now a couple of years into their relationship, Anna and Jaryd have spent its entirety as a long-distance couple, travelling between each other’s home bases in Dunedin and Melbourne, as well as spending time together at international events. It’s not an ideal situation, they admit, but at the moment, their careers have to come first.
“There’s a lot of FaceTiming,” says Anna with a smile. “We would talk for hours and hours every day until I flew over to Melbourne for our first official date. When we first got together, we discussed the fact that it was a huge year ahead for the both of us. We both had a world champs and a Paralympics, so we knew we wouldn’t see much of each other.”
Jaryd, who has impaired eyesight because of macular degeneration, adds, “Anna deserves so much credit for just getting on a plane for that first date. She landed at 10pm, she came over, dropped her bags off and we went out to a bar for a drink. We sat down and it was such a relief! We’d talked for so long over phones and screens, so it was amazing to see that we had the connection in real life – and we hadn’t run out of things to talk about!”
Since then, time together has been quality over quantity for the pair, although they did manage to have a romantic European holiday after the Paralympics last year and Anna has been on a mission to show off Aotearoa as best she can on Jaryd’s trips across the ditch – perhaps with an ulterior motive in mind!
“I’m slowly trying to convert him to New Zealand,” laughs Anna, who admits she gets a bit of good-natured flack for dating an Aussie. “I don’t know what happened – I let my guard down and one of them got through!
“He’s a good one, though, I promise. I mean, our countries are so similar, so it’s not a huge deal”. Double Paralympic silver medallist Jayrd adds, “I keep forgetting to pack my passport!”
On their rock-solid support
The pair were each other’s support system during last year’s Paralympic Games, where Anna – who was born without a right hand – won yet another gold medal, in the 200m sprint, as well as a bronze in the 100m.
While Anna came away victorious, Jaryd was sadly disqualified from the men’s 500m as he dropped the tether that tied him to his guide moments before he crossed the finish line – vision-impaired runners must hold onto their tether until they’ve finished the race in its entirety – and in his 1500m event, he came an agonising fourth by 0.01 of a second.
He says, “My campaign was ending while Anna’s was just beginning. I was so happy for her, but I was also trying to hold it together and not to cry. I was so disappointed, but I was so thrilled for her at the same time.
“One of the most powerful moments of the Games for me was just us in the corner of the dining hall. Anna had had a phenomenal day winning a bronze, but I couldn’t keep it together any more and she was there for me, despite her own incredible moment. She was so amazing. That moment allowed me to get up the next day and really be there for her for the rest of the Games – especially when she won the gold!”
Adds Anna, “When I saw what had happened with Jaryd, I was just about to start my first race and all I wanted to do was jump the fence to go hug him, but I had a job to do. He put so much aside to be there for me. It takes a strong person to do that. It definitely brought us closer.”
While they might not be geographically near, Anna and Jaryd share a deep bond from a shared sense of dedication, purpose and a love of sport. But for Anna, it’s Jaryd’s complete and unflinching acceptance of who she is that makes her love him even more.
‘I’ve never felt more seen’
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that likes talking as much as me – in other scenarios, I’ve felt I needed to dial that down, but with Jaryd, it’s been celebrated. I’ve never felt more me or been as seen as I have with Jaryd, which seems ironic!”
Laughing, Jaryd says that Anna’s down-to-earth attitude and willingness to be so vulnerable was the most incredible part of their initial chats.
“From our first discussion, there was a vulnerability there that was so powerful… If you could bottle how I felt in those conversations, we could sell it for a million bucks.
“She’s interesting and attractive, of course, but it’s her fierce drive that I find really cool. I wish people could watch her in the lead-up to events.
“I love the smiley, happy Anna you see on the news, but the nitty-gritty that she does and that extra one percent she gives is something special. She’s something special!”
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