Proud moment for womanhood: All three medals so far won for India are by female athletes
Tokyo: Boxer Lovlina Borgohain today bagged a Bronze medal in 69-kilogram category after she lost to World Champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey in semi-finals today. This is the third medal for the country. Earlier, PV Sindhu won a Bronze medal in Badminton while Mira Bai Chanu lifted a Silver medal in weightlifting. Besides, Lovlina is also only the third Indian boxer and second woman boxer to win an Olympic medal after Vijender Singh won the Bronze medal in Beijing 2008 Olympics in men’s 75 kg, and Mary Kom won the Bronze medal in London in the 2012 Olympics in women’s 51 kg.
Born on October 2, 1997, Bogohain hails from Golaghat district of Assam. Her father Tiken is a small-scale businessman and had financial struggles to support his daughter’s ambition.
Following the footsteps of her twin sisters Licha and Lima, the Assamese first took up kickboxing. It was only when she met her first coach PadumBoro, her life took definite turn. Boro who worked at Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Shillong and Dimapur centres introduced her to boxing and since then there has been no looking back for Lovlina.
Having found her love in boxing, Lovlina was always on the lookout for an opportunity. And it came within a few months. SAI was holding the trials at Barpathar Girls High School, where she studied, and Lovlina showed her skills when she took part in the trials. That’s how Boro noticed her exceptional talent started honing it from 2012.
In her journey to reach the pinnacle, she battled the society who used to question her interest in Boxing being a female. But this did not jitter her aspirations leading to her first major breakthrough; a Bronze at the World Championship in 2018. After Qualifying for Tokyo Olympic 2020, she became the first Woman in History of Assam to qualify for Olympics.
President Ram NathKovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and Indians from all corners of the country congratulated Lovlina Borgohainfor her achievement.
Kovind tweeted, “Congratulations to LovlinaBorgohain! With your hard work and dogged determination, you have done the nation proud. Your Bronze medal in boxing at the Olympics Games will inspire the youth, especially young women, to battle with challenges and turn their dreams into reality.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his tweet said, “Well fought LovlinaBorgohain! Her success in the boxing ring inspires several Indians. Her tenacity and determination are admirable. Congratulations to her on winning the Bronze. Best wishes for her future endeavours.”
– global bihari bureau
