Four Olympians to have competed while pregnant

Dutch equestrian rider Anky van Grunsven competes in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Photo / Getty Images

On the back of English golfer Liz Young competing at the British Open while seven months pregnant, we take a look at some female Olympians to have competed in their chosen sport at the most elite level while carrying their child.

Anky van Grunsven (Netherlands) - Equestrian

The Dutch dressage champion is as one of the most successful equestrian riders of all-time, holding the record for the most Olympic medals held by any equestrian rider, with a total of nine medals across six Games.

Van Grunsvern is also the only equestrian athlete to win a hat-trick of Olympic gold medals in the same event, having won three consecutive Olympic titles in the individual dressage event at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

What perhaps makes the 48-year-old's accolades so special, however, is the fact that she participated in and won a gold medal at the Athens 2004 edition of the Games while five months pregnant.

She later gave birth to her son Yannick in November that year.

Cornelia Pfohl (Germany) - Archery

What separates Pfohl from the rest of the female athletes that feature on this list is that not only did the German archer compete at an Olympic Games while pregnant, she completed the feat twice.

Competing in four Olympics during her career, the 45-year-old first competed at an Olympic Games while pregnant at Sydney 2000, where she was in the early months of pregnancy with her first child at the same time as competing in the individual and team events, going on to win a bronze medal with the German women's team, adding to the silver medal she had won four years prior to that in Atlanta.

She incredibly then competed in Athens four years later while seven months pregnant with her second child.

Unfortunately, she left those Olympics empty-handed, finishing 22nd in the individual event, and seventh in the team event.

Kristie Moore (Canada) - Curling

Deviating from the trend of pregnant athletes who competed in Summer Olympics, Canadian curler Moore's sole Olympic appearance came in 2010 when she competed in the Vancouver Winter Olympics while nearly six months pregnant with her child.

The 37-year-old did exceptionally well considering how heavily pregnant she was, claiming a silver medal in her homeland's third edition of hosting an Olympic Games.

Nur Suryani Mohamad Taibi (Malaysia) - Shooting

Competing at an Olympic Games while eight months pregnant is not something to be taken lightly, but that is exactly what Nur Suryani Mohamad Taibi achieved, becoming the most heavily pregnant athlete to have competed at an Olympic Games.

While also competing 34 weeks into her pregnancy, the 33-year-old managed to become the first woman from Malaysia to compete in a shooting event at an Olympics, making her Olympic debut in the 10-meter air rifle event at London 2012.

Despite aiming for a gold medal medal, Nur Suryani walked away empty-handed from the Games, finishing in 34th place.