Olympic Medalist Lovlina Borgohain's Coach Sandhya Gurung Gets CWG Accreditation

Olympic bronze medalist boxer Lovlina Borgohain’s coach Sandhya Gurung received the accreditation for the Commonwealth Games 2022 on Tuesday

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain’s coach Sandhya Gurung finally got her Commonwealth Games accreditation in Birmingham on Tuesday.

Gurung, who is also the Indian team’s assistant coach, was added to the Indian contingent, just days before the event. On arrival in Birmingham on Sunday, she was not allowed to enter the Games Village as she did not have accreditation. Lovlina, through a tweet on Monday, complained of ‘mental harassment’ as her coach could not enter the Village. She said the absence of her coach hampered her training ahead of the Games. Following this event, a special meeting of its top officials was held, where the IOA requested the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (BCGOC) to provide accreditation to the coach.

“Today with a lot of grief, I want to tell everyone about the continuous harassment going on with me. The coaches who helped me win an Olympic medal are always being side-lined which has severely impacted my training schedule,” Lovlina had written.

Following this, The BFI had issued a statement that says, “as per rules only 33% of the playing contingent is allowed as support staff. The Indian boxing contingent has 12 playing members (8 men and 4 women) and as per rules, the number of support staff will be four, which includes travelling coaches.” The BFI further stated that the “requirement of boxing with respect to coaches and support staff is a little different as there are multiple bouts, which could be one after another. With IOA’s help, the number of support staff went up from 4 to 8 for the entire contingent of 12 boxers.”