In the tenth edition of our Tokyo 2021 Summer Games series; today we talk about Mary Kom, the Indian Boxer. Tokyo Olympics are the thirty second edition of the Summer Olympic & Paralympic Games which were initially scheduled in 2020 but the global pandemic Corona got it postponed by a year almost. The rescheduled edition is planned during July 23- August 8. Here are a few things about Mary Kom that you may not know about her:
Born & Family
Mangte Mary Kom was born on November 24, 1982 at Kangathei, a village in Manipur State of India. Mary’s father Mangte Tonpa Kom was a farmer and so was her mother Mangte Akham Kom. Mary has a brother and two sisters, all younger to her. In 2005, Mary Kom married Footballer Karung Onler Kom and the couple has 3 children viz. Prince Chungthanglen Kom, Khupneivar Kom & Rechungvar Kom. This was about Mary Kom’s family and personal life.
About Mary Kom’s Career
Mangte Mary Kom would be interested in Javelin Throw and 400 M Sprint early in her life but would later switch to boxing as a career. One of the reasons why the Manipur Youngsters would pick boxing as their passion was Dingko Singh, who won the Asian Games gold medal in 1998 at Bangkok, Thailand. This will give the necessary boost to boxing in the state and woman boxing wouldn’t stay aloof. Though Woman Boxing wouldn’t even have a world championships until 2001, Mary Kom picked the sport in 2000. Mary Kom’s first coach was K. Kosana Meitei from SAI RC Takyelpat complex, and later she would train under M. Narjit Singh, the state boxing coach.
Mary would win the state championship in her debut year 2000 and since then she would continue to improve and go up the ladder of performances in her career. In 2001, Mary would win World Championships silver and better the color of her medal the next year. In 2003, Mary Kom won Asian Championships gold medal and would win it again in 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2017. She’d win the World Championships in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 & 2018 while she’d win bronze in 2019. Mary Kom won the Asian Games bronze in 2010 while she’d win the gold in Incheon 2014 Asian Games and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In 2012, Mary Kom was onto her first Olympic entourage at London 2012 Summer Games, the first Olympics to feature Women Boxing, where she was potential contender for the Olympic medal. She’d win the bronze medal, thus becoming the first Indian woman boxer to win an Olympic Medal. Mary Kom is managed by IOS Sports. This was a brief about Mary Kom’s sports career.
About Mary Kom’s Awards & Honors
Widely known as the one of the top prospects of Indian Medal dreams at the Olympics, here are a few records and honors that tell a lot about Mary Kom:
1. The first Woman Boxer to win six World Amateur Boxing Championship title (6th at New Delhi 2018).
2. The first Boxer to win six Asian Amateur Boxing Championships title.
3. Mary Kom was awarded Arjuna Award in 2003.
4. She was awarded Padma Shri in 2006.
5. Mary Kom was awarded Khel Ratna in 2009.
6. She was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2013.
7. In 2012, she embarked on her first Olympic Games journey.
8. She was awarded the first AIBA Legends award in 2016.
9. She was given “Meethoileima” title in 2018 by the Government of Manipur.
10. She was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2020.
11. In 2021, she embarked on her second Olympic Games journey.
These were a few things that you need to know about Mary Kom. This was it for today, folks. We’ll be back with another story of incredible success with our next content on Indian Olympians. Stay tuned till then. Hope you’re liking the content we create for you. If you think you can contribute by sharing your thoughts and asking questions, feel free to put these into the comments boxes below the posts. Stay safe and healthy.
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