Mary Kom so called Magnificent Mary (born 1 March 1983) daughter of Mr. Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mrs. Mangte Akham Kom is an Indian Olympic boxer. Being a native of small village Kangathei and daughter of tenant farmers who worked in Jhum field, she achieved sixth world titles, three Asian titles and eleven national titles under her belt.
She bagged 6th gold medal at the World Boxing Championships after defeating Ukraine’s Hanna Okhota by a consentient 5-0 decision in the 48kg category. With six gold medals and silver, she hit a mark of the first woman boxer at world championships.
The Ukrainian, who was trained for the contest succeeding her loss to the Indian legend in Silesian two months ago, engaged her hands energetically and strived to overcome Mary extensively in the second round. As the game was getting more vigorous, Mary elevated her game and rebuked in the final round.
Simranjit Kaur and Lovlina Borgohain bagged bronze medals after defeating their respective semi-final bouts. In the 64kg semi-finals, Simranjit lost to Chinese Dan Dou, while Lovlina lost in the women’s 69 kg semi-final to Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-Chin.India ceased the Women’s World Championships by achieving one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals
She won gold medals in five consecutive editions- 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 of the Women’s World Boxing Championship and a silver medal in the inaugural edition in 2001.
She is only woman Indian boxer whose character has been chosen to make a biopic movie on her life starring by the famous film star Priyanka Chopra produced by the Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
She started her carrer in 2000 after her victory in the Manipur state women’s boxing championship and the regional championship in West Bengal.
In 2001, at the age of 18 years old she started competing at international level and made her international debut at the first AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in United States, winning a silver medal in the 48 kg weight category
In 2002, she won a gold medal in the 45 kg weight class at the second AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in Turkey. She also won a gold medal in the 45 kg weight category at the Witch Cup in Hungary in the same year.
In 2003, she won a gold medal in the 46 kg weight class at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in India. She also received the Arjuna Award this year
In 2004, she won a gold medal at the Women’s Boxing World Cup in Norway.
In 2005, she won a gold medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in Taiwan and the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in Russia both in the 46 kg weight class.
In 2006, she won a gold medal at the Venus Women’s Box Cup in Denmark and won gold again at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in India. She also received Padma Shree award for Sports in the same year.
In 2007 she received Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
In 2008 she won a silver medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship held in India and won a fourth successive gold medal at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in China, both were in the 46 weigh category. She received CNN-IBN and Reliance Industries’ Real Heroes Award in the same year.She achieved title as the Magnificent Mary, AIBA and also she received Pepsi MTV Youth Icon in the year 2008.
In 2009, she won a gold medal at the Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam and also received Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in the same year. She has also been nominated as an Ambassador for the International Boxing Association for Women’s Boxing.
In 2010, she won a gold medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in Kazakhstan and her fifth consecutive gold medal in the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in Barbados. She competed in the 48 kg weight class because AIBA had discontinued using the 46 kg class. She also participated in the 51 kg weight class at the Asian Games and won a bronze medal.
In the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, India. She had the honor of holding the Queen’s Baton along with Vijender Singh for the opening ceremony run in the stadium. However, she did not compete as women’s boxing event was not included in the Games.
In 2011, she won a gold medal in the 48 kg weight class at the Asian Women’s Cup in China.
In 2012, she won a gold medal in the 51 kg weight class at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in Mongolia. The 2012 London Olympics brought her more respect and honor as she became the first Indian women boxer to qualify and win a bronze medal at the Olympics. She took part in the 51 kg weight category and also became the third Indian woman to win an individual medal at the Olympics.
In 2013, she received Padma Bhushan award for Sports.
In 2014 Asian Games, she won a gold medal and created history for India. She won the gold in the women’s flyweight (48-52 kg) division which was her first gold medal in the Asian Game
On December 20, 2016 she is been honored with the AIBA legend award at a special event for her outstanding contribution to the sport
She is now aiming for Olympic gold in Tokyo 2020.
0 Comments