Borgohain was born on 2 October 1997, and hails from Baramukhia village, Golaghat district, Assam.[8][9] Her parents are Tiken and Mamoni Borgohain. Her father Tiken is a small-scale businessman and struggled financially to support his daughter's ambition. A former Muay Thai practitioner, Lovlina, as the youngest of three sister-siblings, became interested in boxing after seeing her twin sisters, Licha and Lima, take up kickboxing and followed the same trail.[10] The Sports Authority of India held trials at her high school Barpathar Girls High School, where Borgohain participated. She was noticed and selected by renowned Coach Padum Chandra Bodo at the SAI STC Guwahati from 2012 to learn basics of boxing and to achieve the excellence in boxing.[11][12] She was later coached by Sandhya Gurung.[13][14]
Career
She won gold medal at the 1st India Open International Boxing Tournament in New Delhi in 2018 and silver medal at the 2nd India Open International Boxing Tournament in Guwahati.[15]
Borgohain's career's biggest break came when she was selected to participate in the 2018 Commonwealth Games welterweight boxing category. However, her announcement was the subject of controversy after it was found out that she hadn't received any official intimation about her selection. She found out about her selection after the story broke at a major media outlet.[9][16] At the Commonwealth Games, she lost to Sandy Ryan from the UK in the quarterfinals. Sandy Ryan eventually went on to win gold in that category.[citation needed]
Her selection in the 2018 Commonwealth Games was attributed to her success at the inaugural India Open – an international boxing championship held in February 2018 – where she won a gold medal in the welterweight category.[17][9] She had also won the bronze medal at the Asian Boxing Championships in Vietnam in November 2017[18] and the bronze medal at the President's Cup held in Astana in June 2017.[19][20][21]
She later won a silver medal at the Ulaanbaatar Cup in Mongolia in June 2018 and a bronze medal at the 13th International Silesian Championship in Poland in September 2018.[22][23]
In 2019, Borgohain got selected for her second Women's World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude, Russia, from 3–13 October without trials.[24] Borgohain defeated Morocco's Bel Ahbib Oumayma 5–0 in her round of 16 bout.[25] She was defeated by China's Yang Liu in the 69 kg category semi-final by 2-3 and had to settle with the bronze medal.[5]
Borgohain trained at Assisi, Italy from 15 October to 5 December 2020 for World Olympic qualifying event scheduled for May – June 2021.[27]
2020 Tokyo Olympics
Borgohain is the first female athlete and the second boxer from Assam to represent the state in the Olympics.[6] She defeated the German boxer Nadine Apetz in the primary rounds and on 30 July 2021, she defeated Taiwan's Chen Nien-chin and which assured her a medal.[28][29][30] India women's boxing team head coach Raffaelle Bergamesco told The Times of India in an interview, "She wanted to win and that was a fundamental change. Lovlina is a girl who is very attached to her family, to her fellow citizens. I tried to motivate her by shouting that the whole of India was watching her and she could write her own story"[31] In the semifinals she lost to the world no. 1 and eventual gold medalist Busenaz Sürmeneli and took home the bronze medal.[32][33]
IBA Women's World Boxing Championships
2022
She lost to Cindy Ngamba of Fair Chance Team 1–4 in the pre-quarter finals.[34] Borgohain had again defeated former world champion Chen Nien-Chin in the first round.[34]
2023
Competing in the 75 kg category, Borgohain won the gold medal defeating Australia's Caitlin Parker.[35]
2024 Olympics
Borgohain participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics in the women’s 75kg category. She defeated Norwegian boxer S. Hofstad in her first match. In the quarter final match , she lost to Q.Li of People’s Republic of China 5-0 and ended the Paris Olympics.[36]
Awards and recognition
Civilian awards
Asom Sourav, 2nd highest civilian award of Assam, 2021[37]
In 2019, Borgohain signed up with sports management firm Infinity Optimal Solutions (IOS) which will handle her endorsements and commercial interests.[45]
