Paris heartbreak to Glasgow gold: How Jaismine Lamboria trained her mind to become world champion

Earlier this month, when the referee held up Jaismine Lamboria’s right hand at the end of the women’s 57 kg boxing final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, it not just signalled her win, it also marked the culmination of a remarkable recovery.

Forty days earlier, Jaismine was in hospital with high fever. With barely three weeks to go for the Games, she returned to the training camp, determined to do her best.

“When I was ill, I was flooded with negative thoughts. But I also knew I would get better,” Jaismine recalls. She leaned on the psychologist in her camp and her regular mental conditioning coach, Priya Vrinda, to steady her mind while her body healed.

“They helped change my thoughts and taught me to stay positive. I had to keep my energy and mind strong without exhausting my body, and still show my technical game. When my mind was strong, it became possible,” she says.

At the finals of the Commonwealth Games, Jaismine faced Northern Ireland’s Michaela Walsh, a three-time medallist and a former champion. 

“Our coaches told us to play our game. And we told ourselves, we have an opportunity today to see the Indian flag raised and the national anthem being played,” she says.

Jaismine went on to defeat Walsh in an undefeated 5-0 bout to bag gold.

The boxing champion hails from Bhiwani, Haryana, known for producing some of the country's best boxers. Jaismine didn’t have to look beyond her family for inspiration. Her grandfather, Chander Bhan Lamboriya, was a wrestler. She first stepped into the ring watching her uncles, Sandeep Singh and Parvinder Singh, both boxers.

But Jaismine says she has never felt the pressure of that legacy. Instead, she has always been driven by a different question: how much she can do for India. “I motivate myself to do my best at all times. This thought has carried her through all these years,” she says.

That freedom from expectation was also, in part, a product of the support and understanding at home in Bhiwani, where boxing is understood well. 

“The area where we live is very good—there are many good boxers there; so everyone’s mentality is such that boxing is a good thing. When I started, the whole family supported me, and the outsiders, the neighbours, never said anything negative. They just said, 'Do good, and make our place famous’.”

Her journey has also had its share of setbacks. At the Paris Olympics in 2024, her debut ended in the first round, when she lost to Tokyo silver medallist Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines. She admits there was “a lot of sadness”.

“I was disappointed that I did not perform as well as I should have. There are a lot of shortcomings to reflect on, but that feeling remains for 5-10 days. We always remember that defeat, but there is no reason to keep dwelling on it. I went back to ASI Pune and started training again. For 8-9 months, I worked on technique and strength separately with the coaches there,” she says.

Importance of mental training

She believes training the mind is as important as physical endurance. “Earlier we didn’t believe in these things, because in Haryana there was no such thing as a psychologist—you just had to work hard.

But after 2023, I understood that mental health and our mindset matter a lot. Without it, the brain and body cannot perform the same way.”

She credits motivation coach Vickrant Mahajan and, more recently, high-performance psychologist Priya Vrinda with changing her mindset and confidence.

The results followed. In 2025, Jaismine struck gold in the 57kg category at the World Boxing Cup, winning at both the second stage in Astana, Kazakhstan, and the finals in New Delhi.

The World Boxing Championships title in Liverpool the same year is special for Jaismine.

“I had participated in two World Championships before that and kept going losing in the quarter-finals. When I won that gold (at Liverpool), I realised things take time. It turned out to be the best part for me,” she explains.

With trust comes responsibility

In 2022, Jaismine became the first female boxer to be inducted into the Indian Army. She joined as a Havildar in the Corps of Military Police before rising to her current rank of Naib Subedar, training under the Army’s Mission Olympics Wing.

She says her decision to join the Army traces back to her grandfather, who served in the Army and also wrestled. “I saw Neeraj bhaiya (Neeraj Goyat), Amit Phangal, and Manish Kaushik bhaiya from our boxing team, and I followed how they trained in the Army. So I joined the Army because I could train with them, see how they train, talk to them—and I got very good support there.”

Despite her accomplishments, Jaismine is reluctant to call herself a role model and is conscious of the trust placed in her and the responsibility that comes with it. 

“I don’t want to make any mistakes or leave any negative points that may stop girls from coming (into the Army). I would like other girls like me to come there too and fulfil their dreams. My achievements have doubled since coming to the Army,” she says.

This pathway is already producing results. The Army’s Girls Sports Company trains girls between the ages of 12 and 18, with several athletes going on to become Asian and youth champions.

Overall, Jaismine is happy with the direction Indian women’s boxing is taking. 

“The biggest change has come from Mary Kom’s Olympic medal. We have also seen Lovlina didi (Lovlina Borgohain) win an Olympic medal and Nikhat Zareen bring laurels to the country. 

“There has been a lot of encouragement for girls to come into boxing. The government is doing a lot of good work in infrastructure. The coming years are going to be good with more women taking up the sport,” she notes.

Currently, Jaismine is training for the World Cup, and she is also aiming to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles (LA28).

Her message for the next generation of young hopefuls is simple and earnest.

“Always have faith in yourself. To start anything, we just need to take a small step. Yes, it is a little difficult, but it is a life-changing moment. So just take a step towards your dreams and keep believing in yourself.”