Kunjarani Devi

Imphal, Aug. 5: The grand old lady of women’s weightlifting in the country, Nameirakpam Kunjarani Devi, thrives on her resolute willpower rather than her fit but overworked muscles.

At 38, she is still hoping to see the Tricolour rise above the podium with the national anthem on the public address system and an Olympic medal on her chest.

After 61 medals in every major international weightlifting competition, except the Olympics, she is fired up to erase the single blot on her superbly successful career.

The Arjuna and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award-winning lifter has chosen this month’s Athens Games to accomplish her ultimate goal — an Olympic medal. “The preparations were upto the mark. God willing, I will definitely win a medal,” she told The Telegraph after returning from the final training camp in Belarus.

As promised by Union sports minister Sunil Dutt, Kunjarani and Sanamacha were given air-conditioned rooms at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. They will leave for Athens tomorrow.

Manipur’s Kunjarani and Sydney 2000 competitor Sanamacha Chanu will compete in the 48-kg and the 53-kg weight categories in the Olympics.

The veteran lifter will begin her campaign on August 14, while Sanamacha will start the following day.

“Considering my current form, I can lift 90kg in snatch and 112kg in jerk. An aggregate of 202kg is, I believe from my experience, good enough to fetch me a medal,” the champion lifter said.

The deputy superintendent of police in the CRPF has improved her lifts from her April’s best of 187kg that fetched her the fourth position in the world championship in Almaty.