Olympic Bronze Medalist Lovlina Borgohain alleges mental harassment before the commonwealth games

An Olympic Bronze Medalist denied the coach of her choice is the last thing one would expect before a prestigious event like the Commonwealth games. But as is the apathy concerning sports in India apart from the multi-billion dollar cricket, the same is happening with Olympic Bronze Medalist Lovlina Borgohain.

She vented her frustration in a desperate attempt to get her preparations back on track via a tweet. She tweeted that two of her Olympic coaches have not been allowed to be part of her training process for the commonwealth games causing mental harrasment to her.

She further said one of her coaches Sandhya Gurungji who is also a Dronacahrya award winner, is not being allowed inside the games village while, the other coach Amey Kolekar( strenght and conditioning coach ) has been sent back to India. She said that her preparations have gone haywire as only 8 days are left and this has affected her training schedule.

Lovlina alleged that she endured similar treatment before the World Championships in Istanbul which affected her game and does not want the CWG to go in a similar fashion. She even said that the two coaches were allowed in the training program held in Ireland earlier but then allowed after a lot of requests and pleading on her side.

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has issued a statement immediately , saying that the federation is trying to give her all kinds of support. The BFI said that the federation is closely working with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) so that Sandhya Gurung, coach of Lovlina Borgohain, could be a part of the team in Birmingham.

“Only 33 per cent of the playing contingent is allowed as ‘Support Staff’ which in BFI’s case for the 12 boxers (8 men and 4 women) stands to be 4 support staff, (including coaches) who were to travel with the Team to Burmingham,” BFI said.

“Boxing Federation of India ensured that Sandhya Gurung was at the training camp in Ireland. BFI is closely working with IOA so that Sandhya Gurung could be a part of the team in Birmingham. In the meanwhile, delegate transport and accommodation at ETO’s hotel has been already provided to her,” BFI said in a release.

“The requirements of boxing with respect to coaches and support staff is a little different as there are multiple bouts, which could be one after another. The IOA understood BFI’s point of view and therefore, extended help with maximum possible additional support staff. With IOA’s help the number of support staff went up from 4 to 8 for the entire contingent of 12 boxers,” the BFI said.