Eight-month pregnant Malaysian athlete to compete in London Olympics

Washington: An eight-month pregnant Malaysian athlete is headed for a creating a record as she gears up to compete in the London 2012 Olympics.

Malaysian shooter Nur Suryani Mohamed, 29, is not only the first woman to represent her country in shooting, but also the furthest along for any mom-to-be competing in the celebrated sporting event. “For me, nothing is impossible. 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,” Nur Suryani told the New York Daily News. According to the report, at least three other pregnant women were known to have competed in the Winter Olympics. In 2010, Canada’s 30-yr-old curling champ Kristie Moore competed in Vancouver about 5-1/2 months into her pregnancy, and won a silver medal. 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 and plans to ‘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 said. She almost skipped the chance to go to this year’s Olympics, which kicks off July 27. “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. 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,” she revealed. ANI