The disappointment of an early exit at the Paris Olympics could easily have become a defining moment for Jaismine Lamboria. Instead, it became the turning point that reshaped her career.

Competing in the women’s 57kg category, Lamboria’s Olympic campaign ended in` the opening round against the Philippines’ Nesthy Petecio, the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist. The defeat stung, but it also forced her to reassess every aspect of her preparation.

“That Paris 2024 Olympics exit was disappointing but it was an eye-opener,” Lamboria says. “It prompted several changes in me – physically and mentally.”

The timing of the setback was significant. After spending nearly three years competing in the 60kg division, Lamboria had only recently returned to 57kg during the Olympic qualification cycle. The transition required her to adapt not only to a different weight category but also to opponents with different styles and tempos.

Those adjustments began paying dividends almost immediately after Paris.

In 2025, Lamboria emerged as one of the standout performers in women’s boxing. She captured World Cup gold medals in Astana and New Delhi before producing the biggest result of her career at the World Championships in Liverpool. There, she defeated Poland’s Julia Atena Szeremeta – fresh off her silver-medal finish at the Paris Olympics – to claim the 57kg world title and establish herself among the favourites in the division.

The remarkable turnaround has also transformed her ambitions heading into the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Having settled for bronze at Birmingham 2022, the reigning world champion has arrived in Scotland with a singular objective.

“I aim to change the colour of that medal to gold,” she says. “That’s what I’ve been training and preparing towards.”

The Army That Rebuilt A Champion

Much of that transformation took shape at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune, where Lamboria trains under the Indian Army’s Mission Olympics Wing. While the medals have come in the ring, she says the work behind them has been as much about strengthening her mind as sharpening her punches.

“A significant part of the changes after Paris came about at the Army Sports Institute,” she says. “My coaches helped improve my physical strength, while working with a motivational coach and sports psychologist made me mentally stronger.”

The Indian Army has been central to that journey. In the aftermath of her bronze-medal finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Lamboria became the first woman boxer to be inducted into the Army, joining the Corps of Military Police. It was a landmark moment, not just for her career but also for an institution that has long invested in nurturing Olympic talent across disciplines.

“It’s a great honour they wanted to begin with me,” she says. “But I also see it as an opportunity to become a role model for female athletes.”

The Army’s sporting ecosystem has already produced some of India’s biggest names, including Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra. More recently, it has also turned its attention to creating opportunities for young girls.

In early 2024, the Army launched the Girls Sports Company, a programme that trains girls between the ages of 12 and 16 in four Olympic disciplines, including boxing, while also creating a pathway to future recruitment.

Lamboria has already begun to see the results of that investment.

“These girl athletes are doing very well too,” she says. “One boxer has already won Asian Championships gold, which makes me really happy. I may have been the first female boxer in the Indian Army, but I won’t be the last.”
Boxing Was Always In Her Blood

Long before the Indian Army became part of her journey, boxing had already become part of Lamboria’s identity.

She was born in Haryana and raised in Bhiwani, a city that occupies a special place in Indian boxing. Often referred to as the country’s “Mini Cuba”, the town has produced generations of national and international champions, making it one of India’s most celebrated boxing nurseries.

Lamboria’s own connection to the sport runs even deeper.

Her great-grandfather, Hawa Singh, was among India’s pioneering boxing icons. A heavyweight, he won consecutive Asian Games gold medals in 1966 and 1970 and was instrumental in establishing the famed Bhiwani Boxing Club, which would later produce stars such as Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh.

Yet, growing up, it was not his medals that left the biggest impression on her.

“He was powerful, but there was also so much humility in him,” Lamboria says.

Her earliest memories of the sport revolve around her uncles, Sandeep Singh and Parvinder Singh, both competitive boxers who first introduced her to the ring.

“I grew up watching them compete,” she says. “They were the ones who got me started.”

Lamboria began training seriously at around 14, initially at an academy run by Hawa Singh’s son, Sanjay Sheoran, before continuing under the guidance of her uncles. Although boxing was deeply woven into her extended family, success was never taken for granted. Her father, Jaiveer, works as a home guard, while her mother, Joginder, is a homemaker, and the family backed her ambition at a time when relatively few girls in their community pursued the sport professionally.

“Their support has been a big reason why I was the first girl in my immediate family to take up sport seriously,” she says. “Not least as the youngest among the girls in the family.”

Staying Calm When The Pressure Builds

As Lamboria’s career has progressed, her sources of inspiration have expanded well beyond the boxing ring. The athlete she admires most isn’t even a boxer—it’s former India cricket captain MS Dhoni.

“I really admire MS Dhoni’s mindset,” she says. “He is known as ‘Captain Cool’ for a reason, and I want to be calm like him.”

That ability to remain composed has become one of the qualities she values most, especially as expectations have grown following her world championship triumph. Whether stepping into a title bout or preparing for a major multi-sport event like the Commonwealth Games, Lamboria believes success depends as much on mental discipline as physical preparation.

Her sporting heroes span generations and disciplines. Growing up, she idolised Olympic medallists MC Mary Kom and Vijender Singh, whose achievements showed that Indian boxers could compete with the world’s best. Later, she drew inspiration from Indian Army boxers Amit Panghal and Manish Kaushik, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, American swimming great Michael Phelps and legendary Indian sprinter Milkha Singh.

Closer to home, Lamboria says the encouragement she has received from senior Indian boxers has been just as valuable as their achievements. World champion Nikhat Zareen, Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain and Asian champion Pooja Rani have all helped create an environment where younger athletes feel they belong.

“When you look at them, you naturally feel that you want to do what they have done,” she says.

Today, Jaismine Lamboria recognises that she is beginning to occupy that same position for the next generation.

“For a long time, boxing has been seen as a male-dominated sport,” she says. “Being a woman boxer and an Army athlete, it means a lot to compete on the world stage, prove myself and inspire others through my performances.”

The Last Bit, One More Medal To Win

Lamboria’s rise has mirrored a broader shift in women’s boxing. Although boxing has featured at the Commonwealth Games since 1930, women’s events were only introduced in 2014, reflecting how recently female boxers have begun receiving equal opportunities on one of the sport’s biggest multi-sport stages.

When she made her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham in 2022, Lamboria finished with a bronze medal – an achievement that helped earn her induction into the Indian Army. Four years later, she returns to Glasgow in a very different position. She is no longer an emerging talent but the reigning world champion and one of India’s leading gold-medal hopes.

For Lamboria, however, the medal itself is only part of the reward. The moments that stay with her longest come after the final bell.

“When you’re competing overseas and the national anthem plays, it’s a completely different feeling,” she says.

If she succeeds over the coming days, Glasgow will represent more than another milestone in an already remarkable career. It will complete a journey that has taken her from Olympic disappointment and a historic place in the Indian Army to the top of world boxing – and perhaps, this time, to the top step of a Commonwealth Games podium.