'I was not fighting alone': Yaylagul Ramazanova competes at Paris 2024 whilst six months pregnant

Competing in the Olympics takes an incomprehensible amount of work and preparation, and Azerbaijan archer Yaylagul Ramazanova has taken it a step further by doing it all while pregnant.

Spectators were left shocked when they realised they were watching the athlete perform whilst she was six and a half months pregnant.

Ramazanova, 34, faced Chinese archer An Qixuan in the 1/32 elimination round. It was a tense round, and the two archers ended up in a 5-5 tie.

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To decide a winner, the pair had a shoot-off, with each firing one arrow. Ramazanova won with one more point than Qixuan.

Ramazanova told Xinhua News: "I felt my baby kick me before I shot this last arrow, and then I shot a 10."

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"During the training for the Olympics, I didn't feel uncomfortable with my pregnancy. Instead, I felt that I was not fighting alone but fighting together with my baby," she said.

"I wanted to get a medal. Every athlete does, but not everyone can, but that's okay as long as I did my best," Ramazanova said.

The mother-to-be confirmed she will continue competing once her baby is born, adding: "I will teach my kid archery if he or she is interested in it."

It was Ramazanova's first time at the Olympics, becoming the second archer to represent Azerbaijan, following the footsteps of Olqa Senyuk, who competed in Rio in 2016.

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The sporting star originally started as a shooter. However, her coach suggested she switch to archery because her longer arms are more compatible with it.

Ramazanova's Instagram bio provides the perfect list of her achievements: "Master of sports🏹, many times champion of Azerbaijan, winner of international tournaments, the national record holder in archery at a distance of 70m."

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