8 Months Pregnant Aminat Idrees Crowned Taekwondo Champion
Among the many Nigerians defying odds to triumph in their space, 26-year-old Taekwondo champion Aminat Idrees recently received well-deserved accolades from fans within and out of Nigeria, after demonstrating impressive Taekwondo moves.
At the Nigerian National Sports Festival which held recently in the Southern city of Benin, Aminat Idrees won gold, silver, and bronze medals in taekwondo, whilst being eight months pregnant.
Aminat, who represented Lagos State at the festival – Nigeria’s ‘Local Olympics’ won gold in the Mixed Poomsae category in taekwondo, silver in the team Poomsae and bronze in the individual Poomsae.
Aminat’s achievement has received a loud ovation from the public and media outlets around the world. The martial artist’s feat made instant headlines and made her a viral sensation.
According to Aminat,
“Attending the sports festival was never a personal decision. First, I had to pray about it then I discussed it with my husband, consulted doctors, and the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation.
I decided to participate in this tournament because I know that it is something I could do. I have been training consistently and there were not many difficulties during and after training.”
Aminat is not new to winning, at the age of 18, she received her first major medal at the 2012 sports festival, when she won gold in team Poomsae. Aminat has won medals every year since in Poomsae (demonstration) and Kyorugi (combat) competition at the Korean Ambassador’s Cup, the Nigerian National Sports Festival and the IBILE Games (Lagos State’s annual sports festival).
However, Aminat Idrees is not the first Nigerian athlete to achieve a remarkable feat whilst pregnant. In 2000, pregnant Ann Chiejine was the goalkeeper for Nigeria at the African Women Championships.
Congratulations to Aminat Idrees on achieving an extraordinary feat.