Weightlifter Mona Pretorius will be the first to admit that she’s been around the block a few times when it comes to the Commonwealth Games, writes MARK ETHERIDGE in Gold Coast, Australia.

And Saturday finally saw her rewarded for a 12-year journey that has taken her from Melbourne, Australia to New Delhi, India, on to Glasgow, Scotland and finally come full circle back to Australia where she won bronze in the 63kg division.

Her final tally was 206 kilograms for the combined snatch and,clean-and-jerk routines…the improvement down the years is evident.

Her fifth place weight in Melbourne was down at 170kg.

And as ever, she was brutally frank but fair. ‘This is probably not my best perfect training preparation – I actually had better prep for world’s last November but, strange as it may seem, Something changed in my head after November.

‘It’s almost as though I knew something bigger was coming. I felt like I had a job to do, I was calm but focused and as soon as the Games team was announced I quietly “sent it out to the universe, what I wanted”.

‘This was also the first time competing at the 63kg division where I didn’t have to do a major cutting [weight loss routine]. In fact my dad [Pieter] still joked that it’s taken my 29 years to realise I don’t really have to cut!’

At some competitions, the former Port Elizabeth athlete has has had to shed up to 3kg.

Elaborating on her new mental state, she says: ‘When I woke up I was probably the most relaxed I’d ever been on competition day. I was well under the weight at weigh-in, 62.77kg and everything just slotted in to place. I’d spoken to my coach back in the US, my coach/manager here, Stephen Cupido and we just knew what I had to do.

It was almost as though the universe knew that Pretorius was going to star on Saturday. ‘Just before I lifted, I looked up and the only face I could see was another South African, Connie du Plooy, she’s in the jury.’

On previous occasions the spotlight has sometimes drained Pretorius. ‘I used to get nervous but this time I actually fed off the adrenalin and just thought of the great support base behind me.’

She had told Cupido that if she nailed her first weight things would go well. ‘Once I had that 84kg in the snatch, I knew I was in the game. And hey, it felt, so easy! My second lift was an 88 and then with the third and final lift of 91 I just said “pull it as hard as you can, block it above my head and you’ve got it”.

Job done and there she had a new SA mark. Her old mark was 90 set in Houston, Texas three years ago. She’s also based in Texas these days, in Fort Worth.

Going into the clean and jerk she’d been planning on lifting 106kg but that changed somewhat.

‘As it turned out I had to do a 108kg to guarantee that bronze with my first attempt! Then I did 112 and then the 115. The clean and jerks felt a bit more challenging than usual, but I’m a person who, if I’ve cleaned it, I’ll jerk it.’

The 115kg was her final lift and as she sealed her lift it meant she’d reached a total of 206, another SA record, beating the 203kg she’d lifted in Texas.

And finally, the dam of emotion broke! ‘As soon as I dropped the bar after 115, the tears poured down, it was the perfect competition, six out of six lifts, perfect… the sense of achievement was just something else.’

First person she phoned was dad Pieter. ‘But I just started crying and although my dad’s such a strong person, I’m convinced he shed a few tears too! So I had to wait for another hour and then phoned again.’

Pretorius is also hoping that her medal here will have knock-on effect. ‘It’s great for SA weightlifting and the SA Weightlifting Federation, because of our previous Games where we haven’t done as well.’

Already her mind is moving on though. ‘After I go back to Texas we’ll have the off-season for a month or two and then start prepping for world champs in Kazakhstan in November… and then the big one, hopefully the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo!’

And she has no plans on stepping back now… I’m 29 and in weightlifting most women peak in their mid-30’s so I have another four or five years. Physically you might not improve that much but definitely psychologically.’

Right now though and Pretorius’ head is very much in the right place as she heads off on the next leg of her lifting legacy.

Photo: Roger Evans/Action Plus via Getty Images