Commonwealth Games: Ones to watch - Kiwi weightlifter Megan Signal

Weightlifter Megan Signal. Photo / Getty Images.

Kiwi weightlifter Megan Signal's path to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games has been a difficult one.

The 32-year-old missed out on the 2018 Gold Coast Games with a knee injury, and a shoulder injury forced her to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics.

Signal will compete in the women's 71kg session today at the National Exhibition Centre and her injury issues will act as extra motivation.

"It was very tough," Signal said. "I think any athlete would say that, it's a really disappointing feeling. But at the end of the day you need to pick yourself up and continue on."

She's since had shoulder surgery which usually takes eight month to recover from. But she's done it in five.

"I didn't really get a chance to practice any of the lifts that I needed to do before the qualifier, so it came down to the day and worked out surprisingly.

"I knew after the first two lifts that something magical was about to happen that day, because it felt different to any other day in training. I don't know if it was adrenalin, but I knew after lifting it felt like a strong shoulder."

Signal said recovering from the injury makes her Commonwealth Games debut much more satisfying.

"This is something special. You can get caught up with your blinkers on in training and doing everything you need to, but I often need to step back and go wow, this was a crazy journey to get here.

"I'm truly grateful that it all worked out. We had to fight so hard to make it happen."

Signal has shared the ups and downs of her career with her thousands of followers on social media, which has served as a healing process. She says she has a responsibility to show her team mates that you can get through setbacks.

"I train alongside a lot of younger athletes and I see them going through similar things. I want them to know that it's going to be okay and keep them in the sport.

"Hopefully I can see them doing this at the next Commonwealth Games."

After being plagued by injury for the past four years Signal finally feels confident with where her body and mind are at. She expects herself to be standing on the podium in Birmingham with a medal around her neck.

"We're working towards our best possible performance on the day. If we do that, we'll be in with a shot."

It's fair to say a podium finish is well within Signal's reach, holding seven New Zealand records and two Oceania records in the 71 kilograms class in the snatch and total.