Nameirakpam Kunjarani Devi (born 1 March 1966) is an Indian

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

. She is among the most decorated

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n sportswoman in

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

Background

Devi was born on 1 March 1968 at Kairang Mayai Leikai in

Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...

, to a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Meitei family. She started taking interest in sports while still in Imphal's Sindam Sinshang Resident High School in 1978. By the time she finished her graduation from Maharaja Bodha Chandra College in Imphal, weightlifting had become her first choice. She joined the Central Reserve Police Force. She also went on to make waves in the Police Championships and captained the Indian Police team from 1996 to 1998.

Sporting history

Beginning 1985, she started winning medals, mostly gold, in the National Weightlifting Championships in 44-kilogram, 46-kilogram and 48-kilogram, the latter her final weight category. She created two new national records in Trivandrum in 1987. Changing her weight category to 46-kilogram she claimed a gold in Pune in 1994 but was relegated to silver when she tried to compete in the 48-kilogram class four years later in Manipur. Her first World Women's Weightlifting Championship was the Manchester edition in 1989 and the reward of three silver medals buoyed her spirits considerably. Since then she has taken part in seven successive World Championships and with the exception of the Melbourne edition in 1993, she has won medals at every one of those competitions. However, she however could not get to the top spot, having always to be content with silver medals. A bronze medal was the most she managed in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

at Beijing in 1990 and Hiroshima in 1994, and she failed to secure any medal in the 1998 edition of the Asian Games at Bangkok. Kunjarani has had better luck in the Asian Weightlifting Championships to which she has been a regular visitor. Starting with one silver and two bronze medals in the 1989 edition in Shanghai, she progressed to three silver medals in the 44-kilogram class in the 1991 edition in Indonesia. She retained her second spot in the next one in Thailand in 1992 and China in 1993. Her best performance came in the 1995 competition in South Korea where she won two gold and one bronze in the 46-kilogram category. In 1996 she settled for two silver and one bronze in the championship held in Japan.

Recognition

She was a recipient of the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 1990 and shared the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award with

Leander Paes Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player and the first Asian man to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-tim ...

for the year 1996–1997. In the same year she also won the K.K. Birla sports award. The Government of India awarded her the civilian honour of

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 2011. She has more than fifty international medals to her credit. She also won a gold medal at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

held in Melbourne for 48 kg women's weightlifting with a Games record with an overall lift of 166 kg which included 72 kg in snatch and 94 kg in the clean and jerk.

Current status

N.Kunjarani Devi holds the rank of a "Commandant" and nodal officer of Central sports team in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). She was a member of the committee which was to recommend the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Award for the year 2014. She also was the coach of the Indian women's weightlifting team in Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow.

Major results

References

Extra links

Profile on Athens-website

Bio on Ministry of Sports webpage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Kunjarani Indian female weightlifters 1968 births Living people Sportspeople from Imphal Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award Meitei people Recipients of the Arjuna Award Weightlifters from Manipur Sportswomen from Manipur Olympic weightlifters for India Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Asian Games medalists in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 1990 Asian Games Weightlifters at the 1994 Asian Games Weightlifters at the 1998 Asian Games Weightlifters at the 2002 Asian Games World Weightlifting Championships medalists Asian Games bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Weightlifters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Indian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in weightlifting 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people Commonwealth Games gold medallists in weightlifting