With 61 medals in international competitions under her belt, veteran weight-lifter N Kunjarani Devi has just one burning desire in a career that spans nearly two decades. It is winning an Olympic medal.
"It [winning an Olympic medal] is my last ambition," she says.
The 38-year-old Manipuri lifter is training hard at the Sports Authority of India, South campus, in Bangalore, to achieve her goal.
"Preparations are good. If God is with me I will surely bring a medal for India. I can bring a medal," she adds.
Athens will be her first Olympic appearance and, obviously, she wants to make the most of it. Chief coach Pal Singh Sandhu and the foreign coach of the Indian women's team, Leonid Taranenko, are egging her on. Both believe she is indeed a medal prospect.
Kunjarani said she is looking forward to participating in the Games and has done everything possible in terms of practice and training.
"Winning a medal depends on luck," cautions Kunjarani, hastening to add, "I am working for gold like anybody else in the competition. So I am trying for that. I will give my best performance."
For Kunju, as she is known to her friends, performance is not linked to age so long as the competitor has the determination, courage, mental strength and a fire in the belly to deliver. She firmly dismisses suggestions that age could be a liability in her quest for Olympic glory.
"Age is not a matter or factor," the lifter, who underwent knee surgery twice, says. "If the person has courage, determination and is mentally strong, he or she can do everything in life and society."
And to drive home the point, she says she does not find any difference in her approach since she took to weightlifting in 1985 and now.
"I don't have such feelings. I am never thinking that I am not improving. I gained more and more experience over the years."
The veteran weightlifter said she has no plans to call it a day after the Athens Olympics and could even go on for a few more years.
"I am not contemplating retirement after the Olympics. If my body is fit, I will go on for another two to four years more," says the diminutive lifter, who has dominated the sport in India and made a mark internationally in the last one-and-half decade."
