'Gold Rush' - Lovlina Borgohain wants the ultimate prize in Tokyo to fulfill her father's dream
Lovlina has always settled for bronze in major competitions be it the Asian Championship or World Championship
Lovlina Borgohain is part of a formidable women boxing contingent that will turn up for India at Tokyo 2020 which includes the likes of Mary Kom, Pooja Rani, and others. However, her journey from the small village of Golaghat in Assam to Japan is riddled with impediments and hardships. Her father Tiken Borgohain toiled hard to make both ends meet but ensured that his three daughters could follow their sporting dreams.
Lovlina, along with her two younger sisters, was into kickboxing when they first started their career. However, her sisters dropped out and she shifted to boxing after she was selected at the SAI (Sports Authority of India) trials led by boxer Padum Boro in 2012. Since then, it has been the dream of her family to see her qualify for the Olympics and then finish with a medal on the world's grandest stage.
"Olympics has been my parents' dream and I am working towards it. The home situation was not good financially. He has not thought about himself. He just wanted his daughters to come up. Yet, my parents and my twin sisters supported me in boxing," she stated previously to DNA.
Training at the Dimapur centre in Assam under Boro she has pursued her dream relentlessly. Her height lends her an advantage and the fierce upper cut is the most potent weapon in her arsenal.
"That's what sets her apart inside the ring," opined Boro.
It was this trait that helped her defeat Uzbekistan’s Maftunakhon Melieva in the quarterfinals of the Asian Olympic qualifiers and secure an Olympic berth. But the 23-year-old has always had to settle for a bronze after losing in the semifinals of major tournaments, be it the World Championship or the Asian Championship. Even in the latest continental challenge, she bagged bronze after falling to Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova in Dubai in May. Hence, in the upcoming Olympics, she is focused on changing the colour of the medal.
"I know the two World Championships bronze are a good effort, but my aim is to win a gold at the international level. I realize I need to work even harder for that," she told the Olympics.com.
And she has left no stone unturned to achieve her target. For the past few months, she had been training under high-performance director Rafaele Bergamasco in Italy against some of the best sparring partners from various parts of Europe. With improved hand-eye coordination and more power in her straight punches, impossible is nothing for the pugilist in Tokyo.
She will first take to the ring in a Round of 32 bout in the women's welterweight category (69kg) at Tokyo 2020 on Saturday.