MC Mary Kom is one of the most prolific boxers in our country and bestows rare feet of being the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the seven world championships, also became the first woman athlete to be recommended by the Sports Ministry for Padma Vibhushan. She is been one of India’s leading sporting superstars for the past two decades, won a total of 19 medals in her career across different international tournaments. She holds rare record to being six times, the only female boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven World Championships, and the only boxer to win eight World Championship medals.
Ever since the women’s world boxing championships was introduced way back in 2001, the Indian boxer has won a medal at each of the eight editions so far. These days Mary Kom prepares for her dream of winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics and was quoted saying “My goal is to win the elusive Olympic gold medal. And I hope my last Olympics turns out to be the most memorable one and I can inspire people and bring some joy in these challenging times.”
Her journey has inspired many young girls taking up boxing, recent times we have seen the steady churning out of women boxers in the nation, three of whom will be joining her in Tokyo. Magnificent Mary opened how she has handled one and a half years fight vs an opposition as formidable as Covid-19. She added saying “It was a tough time in general with the second wave rampant and everything happening so quickly. The training camp had to be stopped temporarily but we were in touch with each other through video calls and we devised a new plan.”
May Kom Personal Coach, Chhote Lal Yadav gave insight into the training session and was quoted saying “Sumya (Halder, her physio) was in touch with her and made sure that all the good work that we did in the past months continued. After a few weeks, we went to SAI, Pune, and trained there. We took it as another challenge and did everything possible. I was doing my best with whatever was possible, keeping myself fit and training and brushing up on my techniques,” added Mary Kom. My experience also helped me in such tough circumstances as I knew it wouldn’t be long before things changed again for the better. With Asian Championships and Olympics around, I had enough motivation to train hard.”
During this pandemic, Mary has remained optimistic and has been pillar of strength for her family, also has been keeping herself mentally strong even when she couldn’t train and sparring. She stayed indoor during these tough times and was also down with dengue. “It was a bit strange as I am not used to staying at home for a long time. I made sure that I was giving ample time both to my family and my training. My kids also understand the responsibility that I have towards my country and my game.”
In her first outing post the pandemic went on win a bronze and followed it up winiing Silver medal at the Asian championship which took place in Dubai and was quoted saying “I lost a very close final and was disappointed in the beginning but it is in my nature to look at the positives, work on my mistakes and come back strongly.”
The prolific boxers who was former world No. 1, who currently holds the third spot in AIBA rankings ahead of the Games, is rearing to make her last Olympic sojourn memorable.
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All the Best Mary Kom 👍