Eradicating mistakes & preparing for gold in Oly: Lovlina

By Pratik Sagar

New Delhi, July 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) Despite being just 22, boxer Lovlina Borgohain has been a constant fixture for India at world events for quite sometime now. She won back-to-back bronze medals at World Championships in 2018 and 2019 in welterweight category but according to her own admission, nothing but gold will satisfy her when she takes to the ring at Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

"My aim is to win gold and I have been training accordingly as well. Having said that, it isn't guaranteed that if you work for gold then you will get gold," Lovlina told IANS.

"My goal is to give my 100 percent...if I am able to give my 100 percent then I know I will win gold for the country," she added.

Before coronavirus pandemic put a halt on sports worldwide, Lovlina secured an Olympic quota for India in March 2020. Her progess inside the ring was cut short by the lockdown. But the talented pugilist conceded that she enjoyed being at home for this long duration, something she wasn't able to do since 2012.

"I faced some problems during the lockdown initially but then I had my equipment at home so I continued with my training," Lovlina said.

"But the fact that I got to stay at home for such a long time, I am enjoying every bit of it. Earlier, we used to stay at home only for two-three days at a time because of tournaments and camps.

"After 2012, this is the first time I have been at home for such a long time. I also helped my father in the field, got time to cook at home... so it has been a good experience for me."

As the world is slowly and steadily getting back on its feet, sports around the world is also retuning to stadia. One of the biggest casualty due to the COVID-19 crisis was the Olympics. The multi-national event was initially set to be hosted in July this year but due to coronavirus pandemic, it will now take place from July 23 till August 8.

"Initially, I felt a bit disappointed that Olympics was postponed. There were few months left for the Games and I felt I was at the peak of my powers," Lovlina said.

"But now, after giving it a thought, I felt that I have enough time to change my game around. I felt that I was going well at competitive events but gold was missing. So I have time on my side to eradicate those mistakes."

Now the long journey to regain full fitness begins for athletes like Lovlina, who were operating on world-clsss levels before coronavirus stoppage. She also explained that the idea is to peak at the right time and she has plans in place for that.

"I can't put a timeframe on it. It's not possible to even reach your peak in one or two months. Also, the idea is to keep things slow and peak at the right time," Lovlina explained.

"If we attain our top form in the next one or two months, there is a chance that our levels will drop. So, we have to maintain our routine and keep building form slowly.

"We can't go ahead with heavy training straightaway. The idea is to peak just one or two months before the Olympics," she added.

Lovlina also spoke about her association with Adidas 'What's One More' film, under the 'Ready For Sport' campaign, which has been created to keep all athletes ready for 2021.

"I have been getting a lot of support from them and they have been motivating me as well. Whatever problems we face with respect to our training and other requirements, it gets taken care of.

"There was another campaign, namely 'Home Team Challenge', in which we used to do training at home to keep fit. We have now started with the new campaign 'One More'...we had been training for four years and now we have to continue doing the same for one more year," she added.

Source: IANS