Hospital Bed To Glasgow Gold: Inside Boxer Jaismine Lamboria's Commonwealth Games Miracle
Weeks before stepping into the ring at the Commonwealth Games, reigning 57kg world champion Jaismine Lamboria was confined to a hospital bed, battling a relentless illness that threatened to derail her participation in Glasgow.
Weeks before stepping into the ring at the Commonwealth Games, reigning 57kg world champion Jaismine Lamboria was confined to a hospital bed, battling a relentless illness that threatened to derail her participation in Glasgow. On Saturday, the 24-year-old from Bhiwani completed a remarkable turnaround, defeating defending champion Michaela Walsh of Northern Ireland to clinch the women's 57kg gold medal and improved upon her bronze wining show in Birmingham four years back.
For those watching from the stands, Jaismine looked every bit the overwhelming favourite. But behind the scenes, the past few months had been a battle away from the boxing ring.
Her troubles began at the Asian Championships in March, where she fought despite running a high fever. Refusing to withdraw, she battled through three gruelling bouts to reach the final, earning a silver medal and securing direct qualification for the Commonwealth Games.
"I was running high fever after my very first bout," Jaismine recalled.
"I was in bad shape. Somehow I reached the semifinal and there I fought a very tough contest and won 3-2. Those three fights were extremely difficult, but I gave everything I had," she told PTI.
The tournament extracted a heavy toll. In the final, she suffered a blow to the head that resulted in a concussion, forcing doctors to conduct scans. Fortunately, the reports came back clear.
Just when she thought the worst was behind her, illness struck again.
"I returned to India, trained for around 20 days and then again fell sick. I had high fever, was on a lot of medication and was even admitted to hospital," she said.
"I don't know what this illness is. I hope everything is alright and I recover, " she had told PTI at that time.
The setback forced her to miss India's exposure camp in the Czech Republic in June, severely disrupting preparations for what was the biggest competition of her year as the 57kg category is absent from the Asian Games programme.
The prolonged layoff inevitably took a mental toll.
"I did have a lot of negative thoughts," she admitted.
Working with a sports psychologist proved crucial in helping her regain confidence.
"I worked with the psychologist and she kept me motivated." She was only able to resume training on July 1, less than a month before the CWG.
"The coaches supported me and told me to take it slow, get fit and not worry about the result. They just asked me to stay confident." Having arrived in Glasgow with the burden of expectation and months of interrupted preparation, the gold medal meant far more than another title.
"I am very happy. I had come with the aim of changing the colour of my medal and winning gold for India," she said.
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