powerlifter Deahnne McIntyre

returned home last year with a

European championships bronze

medal, she knew where it belonged:

with her mother at her cremation.

The problem was, the medal

wasn't hers to burn.

Four months after her touching

tribute at Norwood Park

Crematorium to her mum Jan

Pummeroy, who died the day after

the competition final, McIntyre

received an email to say the silver

medallist had been disqualified and

she had been elevated to second

place.

But to receive the silver medal she

was entitled to she was expected to

hand back the bronze.

McIntyre said, ''They asked me to

give my bronze back so I could get

my silver ... but it's a little bit hard to

do that when you've cremated it with

your mother.''

Yesterday, she had still not

received the silver.

McIntyre, 37, was named this week

as part of a three-person Australian

powerlifting team for the Paralympic

Games in Beijing.

She will compete in the 82.5kg

division.

It will be her fourth Paralympics,

but the first without her mum as her

chief supporter.

Immediately after 59-year-old Jan

died after a long battle with cancer,

McIntyre considered giving the sport

away.

Instead she'll use her mum and

former coach as inspiration in a

quest for gold.

''She was my coach in my early

years and was always supporting

me,'' McIntyre said.

''I dedicate everything to her.''

Born with spina bifida, McIntyre

was the 1985 Young Australian of the

Year and received an Order of

Australia Medal in 1988.

She won four medals at the

Paralympic Games in Seoul in 1988

but has not since added to the tally.

A shoulder injury almost cost her a

chance of making the Beijing team,

but she said yesterday she had her

sights set on redeeming past

performances.

Now in her sixth week of

rehabilitation, McIntyre will put off

any surgery or rest period until she

has competed in China.

''My rehabilitation is coming along

really well and I don't want to finish

anywhere out of the top five. I'm

aiming for a medal.

''The doctors seem to think I will

be fine and I will be putting off

everything until after the Games.''

She is no stranger to preparation

interruptions.

While she was preparing for her

first assault on the international

scene as a 17-year-old in Seoul 1988,

she had to have her appendix

removed four days before her first

event. Her mother, who was her

coach at the time, was not supposed

to fly overseas because of illness.

McIntyre ended up winning one

gold, two silver and one bronze in

sprinting events in Seoul.

''I still had my stitches in and it

was very painful. But that's the one

that sticks out for me.''

She lost interest in track events

and made a switch to powerlifting

just in time to qualify for the Sydney

Games in 2000.

Again her preparation halted.

McIntyre's stepfather died before the

Games had begun and her mother

had just had an operation on her leg

which was supposed to prevent her

from travelling.

''Mum made the trip up [to

Sydney] despite being told not to,''

McIntyre said. ''It's those 1 per cent

things that you cling on to and you

use them as motivation.''

McIntyre will join her two

powerlifting teammates in Brisbane

for training next month.