Meet Lovlina Borgohain, India's latest medal winner at Tokyo Olympics

Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain beat World No. 2 Chen Nien-Chin of Chinese Taipei 4-1 to win her women's welterweight quarterfinal clash at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, assuring India of a medal in the process. India's only medal at the Games so far has been weightlifter Mirabai Chanu's silver in the 49kg division.

Borgohain becomes the third Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal, after Vijender Singh (men's middleweight bronze, Beijing 2008) and Mary Kom (women's flyweight bronze, London 2012).

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Following in the footsteps of her twin sisters Licha and Lima, Borgohain first took up kickboxing. She switched to amateur boxing after meeting her first coach Padum Boro, who worked at Sports Authority of India’s Shillong and Dimapur centers.

Boro spotted Borgohain at the trials held by SAI in 2012. Her game developed with time and she went on to represent the country in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games after claiming a gold in the India Open and bronze medals in the Asian championships in Vietnam and President’s Cup in Kazakhstan.

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The same year Borgohain earned a bronze medal on debut in the World Championship in Delhi and added another bronze in the next edition in Russia a year later.

The Arjuna award winner may be the most famous face among the 600-odd people of Bara Mukhia village in Golaghat district of Assam, but she is not satisfied with her achievements. Despite losing out on valuable international exposure last year due to Covid-19, 23-year-old Borgohain is determined to give her best in Tokyo.