Mary Kom remains the only Indian female boxer to have won an Olympic medal, the sport was the way out for mary kom after failing academically, her interest in boxing was borne from the success of Dingko Singh, an Indian boxer.
At 36, she is preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
She is the only woman to become World Amateur Boxing champion for a record six times, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the seven world championships.
Nicknamed Magnificent Mary, she is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the flyweight (51 kg) category and winning the bronze medal.
She had also been ranked as No. 1 AIBA World Women’s Ranking Light Flyweight category. She became the first Indian woman boxer to get a Gold Medal in the Asian Games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea and is the first Indian woman boxer to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
On 26 April 2016, Kom was nominated by the President of India as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. In March 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed Kom as national observers for boxing.
Kom is an Indian boxer born on March 1, 1983. She belongs to the Kom tribal community of Manipur. She was awarded the World Boxing championship title five times and is the only woman boxer in the world to have won a medal in each of the six world championships she participated in.
Kom was born in Kangathei, Manipur, to Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom, who used to work in jhum fields. Mary Kom completed eight years of education in Moirang and proceeded to Imphal for her ninth and tenth standards. Unfortunately, she could not pass her examinations. So, she quit school. Although she was not brilliant academically, she did not give up on life.
From young, Mary Kom was interested in athletics, but the success of Dingko Singh, an Indian boxer born in Manipur, in the 1998 Asian Games ignited passion in Kom and propelled her to enhance her boxing skills and become a professional boxer.
In 2000, she began her training under M Narjit Singh, Manipur State Boxing Coach. Since boxing is considered unsuitable for women by many, Kom hid her passion and interest from her family and her family came to know about her interest through a newspaper when she won the Manipur State Boxing championship in 2000.
Mary Kom started boxing at the international level at the age of 18, which is considered old by several standards. However, she did not lose faith. Kom proved to the world that age is nothing but a number. Her determination to succeed in the world of boxing won her many medals, including a bronze medal in 2012 Olympics.
She continues to pursue the sport and train for the same and is preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
