Pregnant at the Olympics

Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi will compete in the London Olympics as the first female shooting sports competitor from Malaysia. She is also eight months pregnant. Therefore, she joins a small and exclusive club of athletes who go for the gold while expecting.

The International Olympic Committee does not keep records on the number of pregnant athletes, but news reports suggest there have only been a handful between the Summer and Winter Games combined. And Nur Suryani looks likely to set the record for the most heavily pregnant competitor in Olympic history.

Shooting may be less strenuous on a pregnant body than many other sports, but it is also a sport in which fortunes can hinge on fractions of millimeters, with breathing, balance and concentration considered paramount.

Nur Suryani has a solution when she steps onto the rifle range in London: “I will talk to her, say, ‘Mum is going to shoot just for a while. Can you just be calm?”’

Malaysian officials were more worried about her ability to travel to London, but with her doctor's blessing, she is cleared for the long flight. Link -via Jason Kottke