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Eight months pregnant athlete wins Taekwondo gold medal

Jack Rathborn
·1-min read
Aminat Idrees has won a gold medal while performing at eight months pregnant (Nurullah Matepo)
Aminat Idrees has won a gold medal while performing at eight months pregnant (Nurullah Matepo)

Heavily pregnant athlete Aminat Idrees has won a gold medal in Nigeria's ongoing National Sports Festival.

The 26-year-old, who is eight months pregnant, emerged victorious in the Mixed Poomsae category in Taekwondo.

Organisers of the multi-sport event described Idrees' achievement as "inspiring", with Idrees claiming that taking part has been a "privilege".

She told CNN: "I just decided to give it a try after training a couple of times... It feels really good. Before I got pregnant, I have always enjoyed training, so it didn’t seem different with pregnancy.”

Idrees also defended herself for taking part after attracting criticism online, insisting that most did not understand Taekwondo.

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“A lot of people don’t understand what Taekwondo is actually about,” she added. “I feel this is an avenue to educate people about this. Taekwondo has two branches: the combat sport and Poomsae -- which is a form of exercise... just displaying the hand and leg techniques in Taekwondo. I participated in Poomsae event.

“I felt there wasn’t much risk attached to it, so I decided to give it a try. My doctor, as well as the organizing body of the games certified me fit to participate in the non-contact sport,” the expectant mother added.