Never say die

The medal was the result of eight years of hard work, during which the 24-year-old only went home for vacations three times. The young lady from Nakhon Sawan even thought about giving up the sport after a series of disappointments.

While other girls in her village dreamt about being beauty queens, Prapawadee, better known as Junpim Kanthatien, chose weightlifting to prove her worth. She gave up her feminine curves and endured gruelling training sessions.

Prapawadee comes from a poor family in the rice-growing province. Her father was a construction worker who worked odd jobs to make ends meet.

 After talent scouts spotted her talent, Prapawadee had a chance to compete in a local tournament. Her ability helped finance her studies to college level, which would have been impossible if she had to rely on her dad's money. Prapawadee lifted her way to improving her family's finances.

When Prapawadee started weightlifting seriously, the sport was not so popular. But at the Athens Games four years ago Paweena Thongsuk and Udomporn became the first Thai women to win Olympic golds - the first in other sports apart from boxing.

 Even then, Prapawadee was determined to excel at weightlifting. She had to build up her strength and competed with Udomporn in several tournaments, during which both girls took turns in winning. When the Thai weightlifting association had to pick the athletes to compete in Athens, Prapawadee lost out to Udomporn because of the latter's greater experience.

 Then, Prapawadee almost gave up the sport, thinking that her best shot at the Olympics had passed. Udomporn came back home with gold but the association's executives didn't want to let Prapawadee go.

Bussaba Yodbangtoey, president of the Amateur Weightlifting Association, successfully persuaded her to return to the sport.  Prapawadee went back to the camp again and later changed her name after a nun suggested it would bring a change of luck for the better.

 Last year, Prapawadee had high hopes of winning two big tournaments: the Weightlifting World Championship and the SEA Games in Khon Kaen. Before those competitions, Prapawadee had increased her statistics for aggregate weights in several tournaments.

But during the World Championships in Chiang Mai last year, Prapawadee dislocated her shoulder and fell while competing. The accident ended her chances for the SEA Games.

Prapawadee described the failure to earn a berth in Athens and the accident at the World Championships as the two biggest disappointments in her life so far.

But this time, when the opportunity came, Prapawadee seized it. She went through gruelling training sessions hoping to win an Olympic medal and on Sunday she displayed her strength and determination.

Prapawadee proves that wherever there's a will, there's a way.