This Indian woman boxer has made the country proud by achieving many great achievements in the strength of her sports.
The first name that comes to mind when it comes to the name of the female boxer is M.C. Mary Kom. She has been a six-time world champion, winning her sixth gold medal at the 2018 World Championships.
Mary Kom has been the winner of the World Boxing Championship 8 times. She won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is the first female boxer to win any medal in women's boxing at the Olympics.
She won a bronze medal in the 2010 Asian Games and a gold medal in the 2014 Asian Games.
She created history by winning the gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games, becoming the first Indian woman boxer to do so.
Her original name is Maangte Changneijang Mary Kom. She is a native of Manipur, India.
Mary Kom, who made the country proud in boxing, was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Government of India in the year 2003.
She was awarded the Padma Shri in the year 2006 and the 'Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award', the country's highest sports honor in 2009.
In the year 2013, the country's third highest honor Padma Bhushan was awarded, and in 2020, the country's second highest honor Padma Vibhushan.
Mary Kom is an inspiration for every Indian woman today because of her achievements and successes in the world of boxing.
A film was also made on her life which was released in 2014. Her role was played by famous heroine Priyanka Chopra in this film directed by Omung Kumar.
Mary Kom became a member of the Rajya Sabha in the year 2016.
She is also known as Magnificent Mary.
Let us know about the struggling journey of Mary Kom…
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Early Life
Mary Kom was born on 1 March 1983 in the Churachandpur district of Manipur. Her father Mangte Tonpa Kom was a poor farmer. Her mother's name is Mangte Akham Kom. Her family was not financially prosperous.
But hard work and dedication are such weapons that if practiced continuously, the goal can be conquered. Mary Kom also achieved many achievements by walking on the path of her willpower, self-confidence, and constant struggle.
Her early education was till class 6 in Loktak Christian Model School and till class 8 in St. Xavier's School. After this, she joined the Adimjati High School in Imphal for classes 9 and 10 but she could not clear the entrance exam.
She did not want to appear in the examination of this school again, so she decided not to go to school and decided to take the examination from National Open School.
She completed her graduation from National Open University and graduated from Churachandpur College.
Mary Kom was more inclined towards sports and after going to athletics, she got attracted towards boxing.
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How did the idea of making an identity in boxing come about?
Mary Kom's interest in sports was very high since childhood. Her interest was in the javelin and 400 meters race. Even though boxing was not her first choice, once she was determined, then who could stop her? She started her training secretly from the family members and continued her training without informing her parents.
Her inclination towards boxing increased when in 1998 Dingo Singh from Manipur state achieved success in boxing. Dingo Singh won the gold medal in the boxing competition at the Asian Games, in Bangkok. His victory was celebrated with great enthusiasm. This greatly impressed Mary Kom and inspired her to enter the field of boxing.
Mary Kom, at the age of 15, decided that she wanted to pursue a career in boxing. For training, she joined a sports academy in Imphal city and started her training under K Kosana Meitei.
While training, she once saw girls boxing with boys at the 'Khuman Lampak Sports Complex' and was amazed. Seeing this, her decision became more rigid and she decided to become a boxing champion.
After this Mary Kom started taking training from boxing coach M Narjeet Singh in Imphal, Manipur state to make her dream come true.
During the training, when all the trainees went away after learning, Mary Kom used to practice for a long time even in the night. The result of her dedication and hard work is that she flourished in a boxing trick.
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Boxing Career
Mary Kom's career began in the year 2000 when she won the Manipur State Women's Boxing Championship and the Regional Championship in West Bengal.
Then her achievement was shown in newspapers and on TV channels. Due to this the family members also came to know about Mary Kom's boxing. Even though initially she did not get the support of the family, seeing her dedication and hard work, her family members started encouraging her.
In the year 2001, she started competing at the international level. She was only 18 when she made her international debut at the first AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship held in the United States and won a silver medal in the 48 kg weight category.
In an interview, Mary Kom has told that the women's championship or Asian championship is more difficult than the Olympics. Because everyone participates in it and teams from all over the world participate.
In the year 2002, with constant practice and determination, she won the gold medal in the 45 kg weight category at the 2nd AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Turkey.
In the same year, she won the gold medal in the 45 kg weight category at the World Cup in Hungary.
In the year 2003, Mary Kom won the gold medal in the 46 kg weight category in the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India.
In the year 2004, she won the gold medal in the Women's Boxing World Cup in Norway. In the year 2005, she again claimed and won gold medals in both the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Taiwan and the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Russia in the 46 kg weight category.
In the year 2006, she won the gold medal at the Women's World Cup in Denmark and again won the gold medal at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in India.
In this way, she won the world championship three times in a row.
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Returning to Boxing after becoming a mother
Mary Kom gave birth to twins in 2007.
After becoming a mother, Mary Kom took a break of 1 year. This period was very difficult for her. At this time, she had given up her boxing completely and devoted all her time to her family.
After this, it was very difficult to get into boxing again. But the force of husband's support and encouragement strengthened her again and once again she took command of her boxing.
Mary Kom was again prepared by her husband for boxing training. During this, she used to stay away from her children.
Mary Kom made a comeback in 2008 and won a silver medal in the 46 kg weight category at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship held in India. In the 46 kg weight category, she won her fourth consecutive gold medal at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in China.
In the year 2009, she won the gold medal in the Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam in the 46 kg weight category.
In the year 2010, Mary Kom won the gold medal in the Asian Women's Boxing Championship held in Kazakhstan.
Won the fifth consecutive gold medal in the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Barbados in the same year. She competed in the 48 kg category as AIBA had discontinued the 46 kg category.
She also participated in the 51 kg weight category in the Asian Games held in the year 2010 and where she had to settle for a bronze medal.
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, she had the honor of holding the Queen's Baton during the opening ceremony at the stadium along with Vijender Singh. However, she did not compete as the women's boxing event was not included in the Games.
In 2011, she won the gold medal in the 48 kg category at the Asian Women's Cup in China. In 2012, she won the gold medal in the 51 kg weight category at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Mongolia.
Her fame shot up after the 2012 London Olympics when she became the first Indian woman boxer to qualify for the Olympics and win a bronze medal. She competed in the 51 kg weight category and also became the third Indian woman to win an individual medal at the Olympics.
Mary Kom created history for India by winning the gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games. She became the first Indian woman to do so.
She was nominated as a Member of Parliament to the Rajya Sabha by the President of India on 26 April 2016.
On 8 November 2017, she proudly won her fifth gold medal in the 48 kg weight category at the ASBC Asian Confederation Women's Boxing Championships held in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
On 24 November 2018, she created history by winning 6 world championships at the 10th AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships held in New Delhi, India.
In the year 2019, she won a bronze medal in the 51 kg weight category at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships.
Personal Life
Mary Kom married football player Karang K Onler Kom in the year 2005 after almost 4 years of friendship and then love experience.
Mary Kom met Onler in the year 2001 when she was on her way to play the National Games in Punjab. At that time he was studying law at Delhi University.
They met for the first time in the year 2001 while going to Bangalore. This beautiful couple also has three children whose names are Rechungavar Kom, Khupnaivar Kom, and Prince Kom. Rechungavar Kom and Khupnaivar Kom both are twins who were born in 2007 and Prince Kom was born in 2013.
In October 2019, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) named her as the female representative of boxing's Athlete Ambassadors group for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
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Awards and Achievements
- The Government of India honored Mary Kom with the Arjuna Award in the year 2003.
- She was awarded the Padma Shri in the year 2006.
- On 29 July 2009, she was jointly selected with boxer Vijender Kumar and wrestler Sushil Kumar for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honor.
- She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the year 2013.
- World famous boxer MC Mary Kom, who created new paradigms with her valor by giving a new definition to femininity in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, was honored with the Veerangana honor on 17 June 2018.
- She won a gold medal in the 51 kg weight category at the 2019 Presidential Cup Indonesia.
- On 24 November 2018, at the 10th AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships held in New Delhi, she created history by becoming the first woman to win 6 world championships.
- The year 2007 People of the Year – Named in Limca Book of Records.
- Real Heroes Award for the year 2008 by CNN-IBN and Reliance Industries
- Pepsi MTV Youth Icon of the Year 2008
- Magnificent Mary Address by AIBA in the year 2008
- International Boxing Federation Ambassador for Women's Boxing for the year 2009.
- The year 2010 Sports Woman of the Year Sahara Sports Award |
- Honorary Doctorate Degree (D.Litt) by North-Eastern Hill University in the year 2016.
- The year 2016 became the brand ambassador of AIBA.
- DPhil degree from Kaziranga University in the year 2019.
- Awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2020.
- Gold Medal in AIBA World Women's Championship in the year 2001.
- Gold Medal in AIBA World Women's Senior Boxing Championship in the year 2002.
- In the year 2002, she won the gold medal in the 45 kg weight category at the World Cup in Hungary.
- Won a gold medal in the Asian Women's Championship in the year 2003.
- Gold medal in the Asian Women's Championship held in Taiwan in the year 2004.
- Gold Medal in AIBA Women's World Championship in the year 2005.
- Gold medal in the Asian Women's Championship in the year 2005.
- Gold Medal in AIBA World Championship in the year 2006.
- Gold Medal in the Women's World Cup in Denmark in the year 2006.
- Silver medal in the Asian Women's Championship in the year 2008.
- Gold medal in the World Championship held in China in the year 2008.
- Gold Medal in Asian Indoor Games in the year 2009.
- Gold medal in AIBA World Championship in the year 2010
- Bronze medal in the year 2010 Asian Women's Championship
- Gold medal in the year 2011 Asian Women's Championship
- Gold medal in the year 2012 Asian Women's Championship
- Bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics
- Gold medal in the year 2014 Asian Women's Championship
- Gold medal in the year 2017 Asian Women's Championship
- Gold Medal in AIBA World Championship in the year 2018.
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