Mary Kom

Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (born 24 November 1982) is an Indian Olympic boxer, politician, and former Member of Rajya Sabha.

She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times, the only female boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven World Championships, and the only boxer (male or female) to win eight World Championship medals.

It was at this juncture, Dingko Singh, a fellow Manipuri returned from the 1998 Bangkok Asian games with a gold medal.

Kom recollects that this had inspired many youngsters in Manipur to try boxing, and she too thought of giving it a try.

After completing class 8, Kom moved to Adimjati High School, Imphal, for her schooling for classes 9 and 10, but was unable to pass the matriculation exam.

Not wishing to reappear for them, she quit her school and gave her examination from NIOS, Imphal, and graduated from Churachandpur College.

Kom participated in sports in school, including volleyball, football, and athletics.

It was the success of Dingko Singh that inspired her to switch from athletics to boxing in 2000.

She started her training under her first coach K. Kosana Meitei in Imphal.

When she was 15, she decided to leave her hometown to study at the Imphal Sports Academy.

In an interview with the BBC, Meitei remembered her as a dedicated hardworking girl with a strong Will Power, who picked up the basics of boxing quickly.

Thereafter, she trained under the Manipur state boxing coach M. Narjit Singh at Khuman Lampak.

Kom kept her interest in boxing a secret from her father, himself an ex-wrestler, as he was concerned that boxing would hurt Kom's face and spoil her chances of marriage.

However, he learned of it when Kom's photo appeared in a newspaper after she won the state boxing championship in 2000.

After three years, her father began to support Kom's pursuits in boxing as he grew convinced of her love of boxing.

After her marriage, Kom took a short hiatus from boxing.

After giving birth to her first child, Kom started training once again.

She won a silver medal at the 2008 Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India and a fourth successive gold medal at the 2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in China, followed by a gold medal 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 at the 2010 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Barbados, her fifth consecutive gold at the championship.

Nicknamed Magnificent Mary, she was the only Indian female boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she competed in the flyweight (51 kg) category and won a bronze medal.

She had also been ranked as the world's No. 1 female light-flyweight by the International Boxing Association (amateur) (AIBA).

She became the first Indian female boxer to win a gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea and is the first Indian female boxer to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

She is also the only boxer to become Asian Amateur Boxing Champion for a record six times.

Mary Kom won the 51kg gold in President's Cup in Indonesia.

On 25 April 2016, the President of India nominated Kom 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 Mary Kom along with Akhil Kumar as national observers for boxing.

After her sixth world title in 2018, the Government of Manipur has conferred on her the title "Meethoi Leima", loosely translated as great or exceptional lady in a felicitation ceremony held in Imphal on 11 December 2018.

Mary Kom became the most successful boxer at world championships in 2019.

At the function, the then Chief Minister of Manipur also declared that the stretch of road leading to the National Games village in Imphal West district, where Kom currently resides, would be named as MC Mary Kom Road.

She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, in 2020.

Kom was born in Kagathei village, Moirang Lamkhai in the Churachandpur district of rural Manipur in India.

She came from a poor Kom family.

Her parents, Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom were tenant farmers who worked in jhum fields.

They named her Chungneijang.

Kom grew up in humble surroundings, helping her parents with farm-related chores, going to school, and learning athletics initially and later boxing simultaneously.

Kom's father was a keen wrestler in his younger days.

She is the eldest of three children – she has a younger sister and a brother.

She hails from a Christian Baptist family.

Kom studied at the Loktak Christian Model High School at Moirang up to her sixth standard and thereafter attended St. Xavier Catholic School, Moirang, up to class 8.

During this time, she took a good amount of interest in athletics, especially javelin and 400 meters running.