Guwahati, Sept. 3: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee N. Kunjarani Devi is determined to bag an Olympic medal before she quits weightlifting.

At a felicitation ceremony organised by the Assam Sports Journalists Association here on Saturday, the 38-year-old CRPF deputy commandant said she still had some more years of sports left in her.

“I am determined to continue till I bag an Olympic medal, which I hope to win in Beijing in 2008. As of now, I am totally focussed,” said the holder of the nation’s top five sports awards since 1990.

For the Manipur-born weightlifter, P.T. Usha is the fountainhead of inspiration. “Her rich medal haul in the 1982 Delhi Asian Games still inspires me.”

The one-year suspension notice slapped by the International Weightlifting Federation on India will affect the morale of young lifters, she added. “The guilty lifters are themselves responsible for their present plight.”

Asked about preparations for the 33rd National Games here, Kunjarani said she would represent her home state, Manipur.

Visiting the Northeast after a gap of four years, the New Delhi-based weightlifter expressed dissatisfaction over the facilities available for budding weightlifters.

She promised to take it up with the SAI director-general soon after she returns to New Delhi.

When she was asked what the prime factors are for bringing about a sports revolution in any state, as it has taken place in Manipur, she said motivation and government support for seeking out and grooming talent are the most essential ones.