India's star pugilist Lovlina Borgohain does not want the limelight. Despite being one of the only three boxers to ever win a medal for India, she is not the poster girl of the sport you will see in India. It would be Nikhat Zareen almost everywhere.
But the Assam-born Lovlina would find it pretty hard to avoid the limelight if she manages to bring a medal in Paris. She is in elite list of boxers featuring Mary Kom and Vijender Singh to win Olympic medals in the sport from India. But none of them could do it twice. The tall and lanky 26-year-old has a chance to do it in her so youthful career. And she has the pedigree.
Lovlina was underrated in 2021 with all the focus being on Mary Kom. But she brought a Bronze home in the 69kg category. She endured a tough 2022, winning only gold in the Asian Championships. She was knocked out of the World Championships in the pre-quarters and in the quarters at the Commonwealth Games.
It became all more difficult when she had to switch her weight. Lovlina needed to make a decision, cutting down her 69kg weight to the 66kg category and becoming the tallest in it but injury-prone too. Or take it up to the 75kg category. This was needed to be done as the Paris Games did not have the 69kg category, where she had won the medal in Tokyo.
She went for the latter and while height and range advantage has been reduced, she has more power in herself.
Lovlina's first big test in the 75kg category came in the World Championships 2023 and she announced herself in some fashion - bringing a Gold medal home. She backed it up with a Silver at the Asian Games later in the year and assured she is big competitor in it.
But she would have to defeat a star-studded line-up at the Games comprising of China's Li Qian, the two-time Olympic medallist and an ex-world champion, Uzbekistan's Valentina Khalzova, another former World Champion among others.
Lovlina defeated Qian on her way to becoming the 2023 World Champion but lost to her in the Asiad finals and also in the Grand Prix in Czechia. Refugee team's Cindy Ngamba would be another competitor Lovlina needs to tackle well as she had lost to her previously.
Lovlina Borgohain's major achievements:
| Tokyo Olympics 2021 | Bronze medal in Welterweight category |
| World Championships 2023 | Gold in Middleweight |
| Asian Games 2023 | Silver medal in Middleweight |
| Asian Championships 2022 | Gold in Middleweight |
