Mary Kom

Mary Kom, is an Olympic Indian boxer hailing from the Kom-Kuki tribe in Manipur. Mary Kom is an Indian boxer who has the distinction of being a five-time World Amateur Boxing champion.
Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom revered as Magnificient Mary or popularly known as Mary Kom, is an Indian boxer from the state of Manipur. Her parents earned their livelihood by working in jhum fileds. Growing up, Mary used to help her parents both on and off the fileds- cutting woods, making charcoal, fishing and babysitting her siblings. Right from her early childhood she displayed skills in athletics but did not have the support system required to nourish such talent. Her first public victory in boxing came in the year 2000 when she won the Manipur state women’s boxing championship. From thereon she made her international debut at the first AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in the United States, where she won a silver medal in the 48 kg weight category. This was followed up with a gold medal in the 45 kg class at the second AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in Turkey in 2002. In 2003, she took home another medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in India, and was awarded the national Arjuna Award for outstanding sporting achievement. She has won gold medals in three consecutive years (2004-2006) at separate international boxing events. Two years later she won the fourth successive gold medal at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in China, followed by a fifth one at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam. In 2010, Kom won the gold medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in Kazakhstan and her fifth consecutive gold at the AIBA championship. In 2012, she competed in the women’s boxing event in the Summer Olympics, coming in third and garnering her first Olympic medal. SportsPro has rated Mary Kom as the 38th most remarkable athlete in the world. In order to honour the boxer, the lane routing to Manipur Sports Village has been named as Mary Kom Road.

Mary Kom returns in style by winning her fifth Asian Championships; targeting Tokyo 2020 Olympics:

Today, as Mary Kom turns 34, she has not given up hopes of an Olympic gold medal. She is still training hard and is preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with the dream of an Olympic gold medal. Mary who made her comeback to the squared ring after a gap of almost one year recently showed that she has still lot left in her. She was untouchable in the 48kg weight category as she went all the way to win her fifth gold medal in the Asian Championships; the most by an Indian pugilist.

After making a winning comeback, the Manipuri boxer now has her eyes set on winning India more medals in the future tournaments including the Olympics, the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games.

Along with her training and hard work, prayers of millions of Indians will always be there with her. This is

what probably keeps her going when age is not on her side.

The Indian boxer is a strong believer in her own ability and a winner as she once let us know: “I was the David who took on the Goliaths in the boxing ring – and I won, most of the time.”Her fans and well-wishers will hope that she wins for one final time at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and we get to hear the Indian national anthem during the medal distribution ceremony.