Pregnant Olympian: Do you support Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi
Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi is the first female Malaysian shooter to qualify for the Olympics. With her participation in the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 29 year old expectant mother of 8 months fell is the narrow list of a few women competing while carrying. The first Olympian to complete while being pregnant was the Swedish figure skater Magda Julin back in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Madga had then won gold.
Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi makes her Olympic debut in the 10- metre air rifle event this weekend. She will be the first woman to represent Malaysia in Olympic shooting.
It’s hard to imagine being eight months pregnant and competing in the Olympics, but next week one Maylasian mom-to-be will be doing just that! Suryani Mohamed Taibi is not only the first woman to represent Malaysia in the sport of shooting, she’s one of just a handful pregnant competitors in history.
But the real surprise is that when she competes, Nur Suryani will be eight months pregnant.
Pregnant athletes have competed at an Olympics before, but Nur Suryani will be the nearest to giving birth.
As Nur Suryani, 29, takes aim, she will offer up a silent prayer to Allah that her unborn baby desists from kicking at the moment she pulls the trigger. Her baby is due in September and, in order to compete, she has
to squeeze her bulging abdomen into the heavy body suit and jacket worn by competitors to aid stability.
Taibi’s strategy at the Olympics is simple, she says,
“My aim is to do everything perfect and then the result will come after. If you aim for a gold medal, you put yourself under pressure.” And what of her often-kicking baby? “I will talk to her, say, ‘Mum is going to shoot just for a while. Can you just be calm?”’