Lovlina Borgohain Hopeful Of Leveraging Tokyo 2020 Lessons For Top Show At Paris Olympics

Lovlina Borgohain started her sports journey as a Muay Thai (kickboxing) exponent. In her first age-group national-level boxing tournament when she was just 14, she “found it difficult not to use her feet against opponents.” She went on to become an Olympic medallist in Tokyo 2020. (More Sports News)

Boxing has given her an identity and all the accolades she has won in life so far. Lovlina now wants to use sports to empower disadvantaged children in remote villages in Assam and northeast India because “they need to see and face the world without fear”.

In a freewheeling chat in the latest episode of the ‘Fit India Champions’ podcast series released on Saturday (March 9), Lovlina, who was born in a remote hamlet called Boromukhia in the Golaghat district of Assam, talks about her love for rasgullas and how she manages to stay away from temptations and focus on her intense training with the Paris Olympics just months away.

Inspired by her father to pursue boxing as a career, Lovlina won the women’s 69kg (welterweight) bronze on her Olympics debut in Tokyo. The tall and feisty Assamese girl was pummeled by Turkey’s 2019 world champion and eventual gold medallist Busenaz Surmeneli in the semi-finals, but reaching the top four in Tokyo was enough for a bronze. Lovlina became the second Indian woman to win an Olympic boxing medal after MC Mary Kom’s bronze in London 2012.

Emerging from a humble family, Lovlina’s childhood was a challenging one. Grit and conviction came naturally to her. Those qualities continue to reflect in her boxing career, peppered with injuries. She has already qualified to represent India at the Paris Olympics in July-August this year.

Having achieved one of her goals in life to become a police officer, Lovlina, to turn 27 on October 2 this year, wants to ride her life’s lesson and contribute for the greater good of children in Assam’s remote villages.

“I am not sure if I want to continue boxing after Paris Olympics but I have a bigger mission going forward. There are many (backward) villages in Assam and northeast where it’s not easy to emerge from acute poverty. I am a classic example.

“Nobody knew my village, there were no roads, no drinking water and no good schools. But when I became somebody in boxing, everything changed. I want to use sports to enhance the lives of children who are underprivileged. There are so many needy people looking for an opportunity to shine. Sports is that medium which can make a difference and I want to explore that,” said Lovlina.

For now, Paris Olympics remain Lovlina’s primary focus. “I have always been injury-prone. Tokyo was a challenge because I was carrying a serious foot injury. But that injury made me tougher mentally. I had to win a medal. I am going to carry that same mindset in Paris but with a difference.

“Meditation has helped me control my mind, praying to Ma Durga has given me inner peace and all that contributes to good results,” said Lovlina, who won the 75kg (middleweight) world championship gold in 2023, after clinching bronze medals in 2018 and 2019.

“I had a couple of bad tournaments after the world championships. Meditation has helped me stay focused and positive. It’s important to shun the negativity. I am working hard on the tactical mistakes I committed in Tokyo and the tournaments after that. I am more confident now and I hope to do my best in Paris,” said the Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather fan.

A flagship programme of the ministry of youth affairs and sports, the Fit India Mission is an endeavour to spread the virtues of physical and mental wellness. The ‘Fit India Champions’ podcast series is aimed at spreading the good words through conversations with athletes and health influencers who are acting as catalysts for change.