Jaismine Lamboria: Six months ago, I wrote down, ‘Thank you, universe, for making me world champion’

As she prepares for the day-long journey back to India from Liverpool, where she’s just competed at the Boxing World Championships, Jaismine Lamboria is already salivating at the reception she can expect back home in Bhiwani, Haryana. “What am I looking forward to? Ghar ka khaanaa aur maa ke haath ka chuurma (Homemade food and a jaggery and wheat-based sweet dish made by her mother),” the newly crowned world champion in the women’s 57kg category tells Sportstar.

As much as she wants to, though, the 24-year-old says she’s going to be judicious about how much she indulges. “I’m only going to be home for two or three days. After that, I’m going to go to the Army Sports Institute in Pune to begin my training once again,” she says.

One might think that Jaismine would allow herself a bit more down time. Having descended from one of India’s greatest boxers and with multiple national champions in her own immediate family, she’s carved out her own legacy with a world championship gold. She won her title the hard way, too, in an Olympic weight division and by beating Olympic silver medalist Julia Szermeta in the final, which most observers felt she dominated.

Jaismine insists that, world champion or not, she isn’t competing to see who the best boxer in her family is. “Race thodi hai! (It’s not a race). Everyone in my family has the same dream as I, which is to make India proud. Jab national anthem bajta hai woh best feeling hai (It’s the best feeling when the national anthem plays). That’s the moment I want to create again and again,” she says.

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The 24-year-old is already thinking of how to recreate the feeling she enjoys most. “Right now I’m feeling really good. Our team’s performance was also really good (India finished second overall in the women’s tournament with two gold medals, including Jaismine’s). I’m feeling full of confidence, but aage aur bhi karna hai,” (have to achieve more in the future), she says.

While her family might want her to spend more time with them, they will understand Jaismine’s decision. They’ve seen it before, after all. Last year, three days after returning to Bhiwani after competing at the Paris Olympics, she packed her bags and headed to the Army Sports Institute boxing center in Pune.

While many athletes might consider competing at the Olympics as one of the highlights of their career, Jaismine was far from satisfied. It didn’t matter to her that her journey to the Games had been remarkable, considering she wasn’t even supposed to go there.

Her compatriot Parveen Hooda had already qualified in the women’s 57kg category. But after a failed dope test ruled out Parveen and nullified her Olympic ticket, Jaismine got the chance to earn another. The 57kg weight division isn’t natural for her – she’d competed in the women’s 60kg category previously, but she took the chance and, against all odds, won a quota at the World qualifiers.

At the Olympics, though, she would be beaten soundly in her very first round. Although she finished far from the medals and was unsatisfied with her own performance, Jaismine views the experience as crucial for her development as an athlete.

“There are two ways to look at how I did at the Olympics. It was disappointing to lose, but at least I got the experience of what it was like to compete at such a big tournament. I also got the chance to be next to elite athletes. I could watch them, their behaviour, how they trained, and how they motivated themselves from close by.

“I knew I could have done well myself, and that experience made me feel that I couldn’t just sit down and relax after my own tournament ended. For a lot of people, the Olympics was the end of their goals par mera journey wahi se shuru hua hai (the Olympics is where my journey started),” adds Jaismine.

So, three days after she returned home from Paris, Jaismine headed to the boxing center at Pune’s Army Sports Institute. “After the Olympics, I knew I had time to prepare for my next competition. My coaches there – (Mohammad) Ehteshamuddin sir and (former coach of Mary Kom) Chhote Lal sir did a lot of technical work with me. All the results I got are thanks to the work we did. At the World Championships, I was able to implement what they taught me,” she says.

Jaismine, a subedar in the Central Military Police, says she spent seven months training at ASI. “Apart from technical work, I also realised I had to prepare myself mentally. I tried to get more confident in how I fought in the ring, and I think that has happened,” she says.

Jaismine has been utilising different techniques to boost her mental fortitude. “I’ve started writing down my goals and charting my preparation. I’ve also started practising manifestation daily. Six months ago, I wrote down for the first time, ‘Thank you, universe, for making me the World Champion’. I kept believing in it until it happened,” she says.

Eventually, everything came together at the World Championships in Liverpool. Even though she had received a hard draw, Jaismine says she wasn’t thinking about the field or even the result. “I went in with confidence. I had trained well. I wasn’t thinking about the result because I knew I would come from pressure. I focussed on implementing the training I had done,” she says.

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The world medal safely in her luggage case, Jaismine has her sights set on further challenges. “I have written one more thing in my manifestation journal. I won’t say more about it until I accomplish it,” she laughs. But it’s not hard to understand. “We have a World Cup in Delhi in October this year. And next year we have the Commonwealth and Asian Games. I want to do well in both of them,” she says.

World Champion or not, she admits she can still improve. “I’ve achieved one thing, but I can’t leave it here. I can work on getting stronger, especially in more technical areas. My 2025 has gone well, but 2026 is very important,” she says.

Published on Sep 15, 2025