Pregnant Malaysian Woman Will Handle Live Weapon At London Olympics

The New York Times has the story today of Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi (left), a Malaysian rifle shooter who will compete in the Olympics later this month. When she picks up her gun in London, she will be eight months pregnant.

Taibi is believed to be the first woman in the history of the Summer Olympics to compete with another human being growing inside her. She learned she was pregnant back in January, two days before she qualified for the Games.

In November, Taibi won two golds at the Southeast Asian Games, in the 10-meter air rifle and 50-meter rifle three position. Due to her increased girth, however, she will be limited to only the 10-meter competition in London. "Yeah, I cannot do a prone position with this big stomach," she told Australia's

In the 10-meter event, Taibi will only have to stand, so she believes being pregnant might actually be useful. "One advantage that I've seen is that my stability increased—maybe because my gravity increased, my weight increased," she told the Times.

Ranked 47th in the world in her event, it's highly unlikely that Taibi will win a medal. But still, a pregnant woman with a gun? That's pretty cool.

Pregnancy No Barrier to Malaysian's Olympic Journey [NYT]