Borchert was born in 1969 in Waren an der Müritz, a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, East Germany. She won the Junior World Championship in 1987 but was overshadowed by Birgit Fischer. Borchert went to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, as a reserve for East Germany but did not compete. Her opportunity arose when Fischer went on maternity leave after the Seoul Olympics; she won three gold medals at the 1989 World Championships in Plovdiv.