Eight Months Pregnant Athlete Who Wins Gold at National Sports Festival Says My Baby Gave Me Double Energy

Kelvin Bright

In spite of the pervading acrimony that has made a mess of the 20^th edition of the National Sports Festival in Edo State, a 26-year old athlete from Lagos State, Idrees Aminat has become the high point of the six day old fiesta.

Aminat was exactly eight months pregnant when she won gold medal in the Mixed Poomsae category in Taekwondo on Wednesday. And she has since become the talking point as spectators believe such a feat is incredible. To them it was the height of risking one’s life.

But an elated champion Aminat says there were no qualms. “No risk.”

“Before I got pregnant, I have always enjoyed the training, so it didn’t seem different with pregnancy,” Aminat said. “It’s such a privilege for me. I just decided to give it a try after training a couple of times… It feels really good.”

The energetic Aminat was not done yet with the gold medal as she went on to win Silver in the female team Poomsae category and an individual bronze in the same category.

Aminat has expressed her delight after a heroic performance which earned her praises all over the world.

She also explained the category of Taekwondo she took part in after some people expressed their concerns about her condition on Social Media.

“A lot of people don’t understand what Taekwondo is actually about. 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 the 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.”