'Olympics was only 3 months away...': Boxer Lovlina Borgohain reveals inspiring journey behind Tokyo 2020 bronze

Aiming for a gold medal in the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2022, Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain will be aiming to emulate her Tokyo Olympics performance in Birmingham. At Tokyo 2020, the 24-year-old became the third Indian boxer to win a medal at the Olympics after Vijender Singh (bronze at Beijing 2008) and Mary Kom (bronze at London 2012), as she clinched bronze in her 69kg category. Despite the success, the boxer had to go through plenty of ups and downs and her preparations were also hampered due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking on Sony Sports Network's 'The Torchbearers show', she revealed that her 'preparations for Olympics weren't up to the mark' and her mother also fell sick during the lockdown.

"I think my preparations for Olympics weren’t up to the mark. A COVID-19 inflicted lockdown was imposed immediately after I qualified for Olympics. During the lockdown, my mother fell sick and was admitted to the hospital as she had to undergo Kidney Transplant", she said.

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After joining the national training camp for Olympics, Lovlina also tested positive for Covid-19 which made her miss two international competitions. "After admitting my mother to the hospital, I joined the camp, and I was immediately tested COVID positive; due to which I had to miss two international competitions. While everyone was training, I was spending my time in quarantine. I had to stay in quarantine for one and a half months and it became very difficult to keep myself motivated as all my friends were training", she said.

"When I finally returned to the camp after testing negative, I saw all my teammates getting affected by COVID-19 virus and everyone was sent home. At that point in time, the Olympics was only three months away and the camp called off, leaving us without any training. So, I decided to stay in Delhi to continue my training from hotel and not from camp."

The youngster also fractured her leg just before Tokyo Olympics but came back strongly to claim third-spot in her event. "Approximately 1 – 1.5 months before the event, I fractured my leg, which raised questions around my place in the contingent for the Olympics. But I was determined that I will play in the event regardless of the consequence. It became difficult to keep myself motivated in the stands. When I won in the quarterfinals, ensuring a medal, it was a totally different feeling. I shouted on top of my lungs relieving the entire stress that I was carrying for months", she stated.

Watch the LIVE coverage of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games on SONY SIX, SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 4 (English) & SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) channels starting from 28th July 2022 at 11:30 pm IST.

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