Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Mwenye ujauzito wa miezi 8 kuwania medali ya dhahabu Olympic

Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi, 29, is the furthest along for any mom-to-be in the games' history. Her specialty is the 10-meter air-rifle.


Pregnant Malaysian shooter Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi (R) talks to her husband Marhazli Mhotar after competing in the women's single 10m air rifle shooting finals at the 36th Southeast Asian Shooting Championship 2012 in Subang outside Kuala Lumpur June 5, 2012. When Suryani takes aim with her rifle at the London Olympics it will not just be nerves she will be attempting to control inside her. The 29-year-old from Perak, situated 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, is due to give birth to her first child on Sept. 2, less than a month after the Games end. REUTERS/Stringer (MALAYSIA - Tags: SPORT OLYMPICS SHOOTING)

Pregnant Malaysian shooter Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi (R) talks to her husband Marhazli Mhotar after competing in the women's single 10m air rifle shooting finals at the 36th Southeast Asian Shooting Championship 2012 in Subang outside Kuala Lumpur June 5, 2012.

Malaysian shooter Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi won’t even have to medal at this summer’s Olympic games to break a record.

Not only is the 29-year-old the first woman to represent her country in shooting, she’s also eight months pregnant — the furthest along for any mom-to-be competing in the celebrated sporting event.

“For me, nothing is impossible,” she told The New York Times. “It’s one of the challenges. If I abandoned it, maybe who knows? Another four years to wait, maybe I don’t have the opportunity.”
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Pregnant Malaysian shooter Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi competes in the women's single 10m air rifle shooting final at the 36th Southeast Asian Shooting Championship 2012 in Subang outside Kuala Lumpur June 5, 2012.

It’s unclear how many pregnant women have actually competed at the games because the International Olympic Committee doesn’t keep track.

At least three other pregnant women were known to have competed, but those were all during the Winter Olympics, according to The Times.

In 2010, Canada’s curling champ Kristie Moore competed in Vancouver about 5-1/2 months into her pregnancy. And the 30-year-old won a silver medal.

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Team Canada alternate Kristie Moore, left, is shown at practice at the Olympic Centre on Monday, Feb. 15, 2010 during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Moore is five months pregnant.

Outside of the games, it’s not unheard of for women who are pregnant to keep competing as long as their bodies are trained for such high levels of exercise.

Amber Miller made headlines last year when the 27-year-old completed the Chicago Marathon — and then a few hours later gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

Amazingly, she was 38-weeks-and-five-days pregnant, just shy of the 40-week mark considered full-term, according to reports.

In Nur Suryani’s case, she’s concerned about giving birth right as she vies for a medal in London in the 10-meter air rifle event. Her plan: Pacify the baby inside her.

“I will talk to her, say, ‘Mum is going to shoot just for a while. Can you just be calm?’” Nur Suryani told The Times.

She almost didn’t get the chance to go to this year’s Olympics, which kicks off July 27.

Malaysian sports officials were worried about her ability to compete so far along in her pregnancy.

“When I found out that I was pregnant before competing in the Asian meet, I thought that that was the end of my Olympic dream, as I will have to turn my attention to the baby,” she told Malaysia’s The Star newspaper. 

“But when I eventually qualified for the 10-meter air-rifle event on merit, it made me rethink that perhaps I am supposed to go all the way despite my pregnancy.”

Ranked 47th in the world, Nur Suryani even improved her shooting as she continued to train. Her doctor also gave her the go-ahead to travel.

So now, the first-time Olympian is looking forward to going to London, she said, with her husband by her side and their child inside of her.

She already knows what she will say to her daughter when she’s older. 

 She told The Times, “You are very lucky. You’re not born yet and you already went to the Olympics.”

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