An inspiring story of a powerlifter's journey

STRONG GOAL: Pooja Kadam from Kalyan had no money to participate in the game.

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Mumbai: Here's an inspiring story of a girl from Maharashtra who won four gold medals at the Commonwealth powerlifting championship. Pooja Kadam from Kalyan had no money to participate in the game.

Kadam cannot shake the Cinderella feeling - the 17-year-old power lifter has just won four gold medals in the 52 kilogramme category at the Commonwealth power lifting championships held in New Zealand.

For the Kadams the success is yet to sink in because not long ago they were not even sure if she would be able to participate.

Pooja says, “I practiced a lot but there were no sponsors."

Pooja's father, a pandal decorator, contacted all the local leaders to raise the required Rs 1.8 lakh.

Appeals to the Maharashtra government also went unheard because powerlifting is not an Olympic sport and is not state funded and it was only after reports on CNN-IBN and some newspapers that money slowly started pouring in.

Even after the hard earned success, Pooja is not resting on her laurels. She is busy preparing for the state level championships next week.

The family hopes that her victory might convince the Maharashtra government to sponsor her future endeavors.