Grimaldi started para-athletics after attending a Paralympic talent identification event in October 2013. She initially was reluctant to attend, having had no formal athletics training and fearing she would be "shocking". She won her first international competition medal, the bronze in the women's long jump T47, at the
2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar. She set a personal best of 5.41 m, while her second-best 5.38 m secured her the bronze medal over Russian
Alexandra Moguchaya on countback. Grimaldi also placed fifth in the women's 200 metres T47 final. Her long jump distance at the 2015 World Championships ranked her in the top five in the long jump T47 during the Paralympics qualifying period, earning her a slot at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. She was officially confirmed to represent New Zealand at the Paralympics on 23 May 2016. At the Paralympics, she won the gold medal in the
women's long jump T47 with a distance of 5.62 m, breaking her personal best by 21 cm. She also placed fourth in the
women's 100 metres T47 final, and competed in the
200 metres T47 where she was disqualified in the heat for a lane infringement. At the
2017 World Para Athletics Championships, Grimaldi ran the 200 m heats before pulling out of the 200 m final and 100 m due to a recurring foot injury in order to concentrate on the long jump. She placed fourth in the long jump, missing the medals by one centimetre. Returning to New Zealand after the 2017 championships, Grimaldi's foot injury was discovered to be a stress fracture in her left
navicular bone. She subsequently missed the entire 2018 season. At the
2019 World Para Athletics Championships, Grimaldi placed second with a distance of 5.50 m, two centimetres behind
Kiara Rodriguez of Ecuador. At the 2021 Otago Athletics Championships Grimaldi set a personal best of 5.91 m, ten centimetres short of the T47 world record and placing her second in the overall (able-bodied and para) annual national rankings. At the delayed
2020 Summer Paralympics, Grimaldi won the gold medal in the
women's long jump T47 with a distance of 5.76 m, setting a new
Paralympic Games record. At the
2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, Grimadi finished fourth in the
T47 women's long jump with 5.75m, 1cm behind the bronze medalist. She won the gold medal in the T47 women's 200m with a time of 24.72 second, for her third Paralympic gold medal and her first on the track. She also won a bronze medal in the T47 women's 100m in a time of 12.20 seconds, setting a new Oceania record. == Awards ==