Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain, who won the bronze medal in the womens 69kg category at the Tokyo Olympics, will need to shift weight class for Paris 2024 as her division does not feature among the six categories announced for womens boxing.
The International Boxing Association (IBA), after working closely with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sports Department and other stakeholders, has confirmed the weight classes for the Paris Games.
There will be seven divisions (51kg, 57kg, 63.5kg, 71kg, 80kg, 92kg, +92kg) for men compared to the eight at Tokyo 2020. For women competing in Paris 2024, there will be six weight categories (50kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 66kg, 75kg), one more than in Tokyo.
Both the men's and women's events at Paris 2024 Olympics will see 124 boxers participate across the different weight classes, an olympics.com report said.
The men's and women's 69kg which featured at Tokyo 2020 have both been scrapped, which means Lovlina will either need to move down to the 66kg or move up to the 75kg division to compete.
Notably, all of Lovlina's major international honours, a bronze each at the world and Asian championships and the Tokyo 2020 medal, have come in the 69kg. She will also be competing in the same division at the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou, China later this year.
Meanwhile, boxer Vikas Krishan, who competed in the men's 69kg category in Tokyo, also faces the same challenge heading into the Paris 2024 Olympic cycle.
Paris 2024 begins in France on July 24. The boxing event, to be held at the iconic Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris, starts on July 27 and will run till August 10.
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