Mary Kom: Wonder woman in the boxing ring
A girl born on March 1, 1983, to Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom in Kangathei, Manipur, was named Mangte Chungneijang Kom, which means “prosperous” in their local dialect. When she grew and entered the world of professional sports, the youngster chose the name Mary which was easier to pronounce.
Being the eldest of three children, she took care of her younger siblings – a brother and sister - and also worked in the fields with her parents.
She attended the Loktak Christian Model High School up to Class 6 before joining St Xavier Catholic School and the Adimjati High School in Imphal, but was unable to clear the matriculation exam. She quit school, took her examination as a private candidate and graduated from Churachandpur College, Manipur.
In school, Kom participated in a variety of sports including volleyball, football and athletics, which included javelin and 400 metres race. In 1998, Manipuri boxer Dingko Singh won a gold medal at the Asian Games, and he inspired Mary to take up boxing.
When she was 15, Mary joined the Sports Academy in Imphal and started training under the Manipur state boxing coach M Narjit Singh.
Career milestones
· Mary initially kept her interest in boxing a secret from her father as he was concerned that the sport could disfigure her and thus affect her marriage prospects. He, however, became aware about it when a photograph of Mary appeared in a newspaper after she had won the state boxing championship in 2000. It was only after three more years that her father began to support her participation in the sport as he was by then convinced of her love for boxing.
Between 2000 and 2006, she won five National Championships and three world boxing championships, organised by AIBA, the international boxing association, in 2002, 2005 and 2006.
She continued to dominate the sport till 2006, when she took a 2-year sabbatical after the birth
of her twins. In 2008, she returned with a bang and won the silver medal in the Asian Women’s Boxing. In the same year she participated
in the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in China where she earned a fourth successive gold medal and followed it by a gold medal at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam.
Mary also struck gold at the 2010 Asian Women’s Championship in Kazakhstan. Then she proceeded to Barbados where she bagged her fifth consecutive gold in the AIBA Women’s World Championship.
She competed in the 51kg category in the 2010 Asian Games and won a bronze. Again at the Asian Women’s Championship in Mongolia in 2012, she participated in the same weight category and won the gold.
In 2012, women’s boxing was, for the very first time, included in the Olympics and Mary won a bronze.
In the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, she won a gold in the flyweight category, making her the first Indian woman to win a boxing gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In November 2018, she became the first woman to win six World Championships during the 10th AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships held in New Delhi.
Personal life
Mary and her footballer husband Karung Onler have three sons -- twins Rechungvar and Khupneivar as well as Prince.
Award and recognition
Mary has won all the top awards associated with sport, including the Arjuna Award (2003), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2009), Padma Shri (2010) and Padma Bhushan (2013). In 2016, she was nominated by former President Pranab Mukherjee as a member of the Rajya Sabha. The Manipur government conferred on her the title Meethoi Leima (great/exceptional lady) in 2018. A road in Imphal has been named after her.
Interesting facts
1. Usually, fans or the global media give sportspersons nicknames because they are impressed by their performances. Following Mary Kom’s outstanding performances in 2007, however, it was the International Amateur Boxing Association that gave her the nickname ‘Magnificent Mary’.
2. In 2013, Harper Collins published Mary Kom’s autobiography titled Unbreakable that was co-authored with Dina Serto.
3. Actress Priyanka Chopra played Mary Kom in the biographical film directed by Omung Kumar that was released in 2014
4. The sports star runs the academy Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation in Manipur. She also provides free training to girls from underprivileged background who aspire to make a mark in the sport.
5. Mary Kom is also an animal rights activist and supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India. She also starred in an ad that had sought an end to the use of elephants in circuses.
Source: thefamouspeople.com/Wikipedia