Nameirakpam Kunjarani Devi (born 1 March 1966) is the most decorated

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n sportswoman in

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

Background

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

Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the fo ...

, to a

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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 The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces. The CRPF's primary role li ...

. 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 among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

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 The Asian Weightlifting Championships is a weightlifting championship organised by the Asian Weightlifting Federation for competitors from the Asian countries. It has been held since 1969 for men and 1988 for women. In 2008 the championships provi ...

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 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 Arjuna, one ...

in 1990 and shared the

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna The Khel Ratna Award (), officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award ( Major Dhyan Chand Sport Jewel Award), is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Governm ...

award with

Leander Paes Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men' ...

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 Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), 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. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

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 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

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