Mangte Chungeijang Mary Kom, who is populalry known as Mary Kom is the only Indian female boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was born in an ordinary family in Kangathei village, Moirang lamkhai in Churachandpur district, Manipur on 24 November 1982. Her parents, Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom were tenant farmers who worked in jhum fields.
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| The first woman boxer to win six World Championship gold medals |
Dingko Singh was the one who inspired Mary to switch from athletics to boxing in 2000.K.Kosana Meitei was her first coach in Imphal.
Kom is the only female 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 to win eight World Championship medals. After these achievements, she got a nickname 'Magnificient Mary'.
How great is that!!
She took a break from her sports career after her marriage. After having her two children, she again started training.
Kom won a silver medal at the 2008 Asian women's boxing championship in India and a fourth successsive 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 Veitnam.
In 2016, the President of India nominated her as a member of the Rajya Sabha. In 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed Mary Kom along with Akhil Kumar as national observers for boxing.
In 2018, the Government of Manipur has conferred on her the title "Meethoi Leima".
In 2019, the International Olympic Committee(IOC) named her as a female representative of boxing's athlete ambassadors group for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
In 2020, she was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award.
Now, Kom is scheduled to compete in the upcoming Boxam International tournament to be held in March 2021 in Spain.
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