Paralympic Archer Tracy Otto Announces She’s Pregnant Hours After Fiancé Proposes Under the Eiffel Tower

The Team USA star shared the happy news on Instagram on Sept. 2

 

Paralympic Archer Tracy Otto has two reasons to be celebrating!

On Monday, Sept. 2, the Paralympic archer, 28, announced she is pregnant with her first child hours after being proposed to under the Eiffel Tower in Paris in a heartwarming post on Instagram.

“We have been keeping a secret …Paralympian ✅🏹 Proposal ✅💍… Pregnant!👶” Otto wrote on Instagram. “Baby Riessle due January 2025!!” She added, tagging her new fiancé Ricky Riessle.

Beside her baby announcement, Otto shared photos of herself competing in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, an ultrasound image of her baby and herself flashing her new engagement ring in front of the Eiffel Tower at night.

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Otto’s proposal was captured in more touching footage shared on Instagram on Sunday, Sept. 1. In photos and a video clip posted, she was seen visibly emotional and taken aback as her partner Riessle surprised her with a ring by the French monument.

She also wrote alongside a series of saps from the special moment, “I may not have won a medal today but I am going home with something shiny 😉💍 @ultiboston #ISaidYes #Engaged #Paris.”

The Paralympics and USA Archery shared their congratulations on Instagram, writing in a joint caption, “Paralympic proposal!❤️💍We’re sending our very best wishes to Paralympic archer @tracy_otto and her partner Rick on their engagement. Rick proposed to Tracy under the Eiffel Tower yesterday following Tracy’s competition. Cupid’s bow was fired.”

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Otto’s celebrations come after making it through a turbulent few years following a life-changing near-fatal attack by an ex-boyfriend that left her paralyzed in October 2019.

Speaking to the BBC about her ordeal in August, the 28-year-old shared that she was attacked in her bed at her home in Tampa, Fla., by her ex a month after breaking up with him and as she had started dating her current partner Ricky.

“I remember rolling over and getting comfortable in bed and drifting off to sleep and then all of a sudden, I hear this loud noise and I see a flashlight in my face…” Otto told the outlet. “And then I heard his voice, and I realized it was my ex.”

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After seeing her and Riessle sleeping through the bedroom window, she said her ex “decided to go to purchase a high-powered pellet gun,” before returning and breaking into her house.

“[He’s] screaming at us to get out of bed,” Otto recalled. “He tells us that he’s going to kill us and that if he didn’t kill himself, he was going to call the police.”

Otto was punched multiple times and shot in her left eye by the attacker, according to the BBC. She was also stabbed in the back of the neck and sexually assaulted by her ex.

Riessle was also shot in the face and stabbed in the back. The attacker then called the police to the scene of the crime, telling them he had “killed my girlfriend and new boyfriend.” He was sentenced to 40 years in prison following the incident, per the BBC.

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The horrific attack left Otto paralyzed and unable to regulate her body temperature, among other internal issues, including bladder and bowel problems.

“It’s more than just the paralysis and the wheelchair that you see on the outside, there’s a lot going on the inside that doesn’t function anymore,” she told the BBC. “… My diaphragm is paralyzed as well … I can’t thermally regulate, and that means I can’t sweat anymore.”

Otto and Riessle remained together following the incident and she decided to take up archery in March 2021 after working “traditional jobs” was no longer an option for her.

“I just thought ‘why not try archery?’ Ricky was like ‘your hands don’t work’, but I just thought we’d figure it out. I did some research and found we have an adaptive archery course in our area. A week later I was shooting for the first time,” Otto told the outlet.

To learn more about all the Olympic champions and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Paris Paralympics, beginning Aug. 28, on NBC and Peacock.

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