Mary Kom

Mary Kom

Mary Kom, an Indian boxer is a six-time ‘World Amateur Boxing champion’ and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the seven world championships.

Mangte Chungneijang Merykom, also popularly known as Mary Kom or MC Mary Kom, is a female Indian boxer from Manipur. She is the only boxer to have won the title in each of the six World Championships. She has also been ranked as Number 4 AIBA World Women's Ranking Flyweight category and became the first Indian woman boxer to get a Gold Medal in the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea.

Early Life of Mary Kom
Mary Kom was born on 25th November 1982 at Indian state of Manipur. She comes from a very poor family and the main reason she took up boxing as her career was to provide some financial support to her family. Her parents, Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom were tenant farmers who worked in ‘jhum’ fields.

Career of Mary Kom
Mary Kom started her boxing career in the year 2000 and because she had the urge to learn more, she started to practice along with the boys, and she learned the art quite fast. After confronting success in her first title and becoming Best Boxer at the First State Level Invitation women's boxing championship in Manipur in 2000, Mary Kom went to great heights, winning gold in the Seventh East India Women's Boxing Championship held in West Bengal and five subsequent Indian National Championships from 2000 to 2005. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India and a fourth consecutive gold medal at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in China, followed by a gold medal at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam.

She won the gold medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Kazakhstan in 2010 along with the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Barbados. In the 2010 Asian Games, she won a bronze medal. In 2011, she won gold medal in the Asian Women's Cup in China. On 1st October 2014, she won her first Gold Medal at the Asian Games held at Incheon, South Korea. On 8th November 2017, she finalized a record of fifth gold medal at the ASBC Asian Confederation women’s boxing championships held at Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. In 2018 Commonwealth Games, Mary Kom won the gold medal in Women’s light flyweight 48 kg on 14th April. On 24th November 2018, she created a history by being the first woman to win 6 World Championships at the 10th AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, which was held in New Delhi.

National Achievements of Mary Kom
Following are the achievements of Mary Kom in national level:

• Gold - 1st Women National Boxing Championship- 2001
• The East Open Boxing Champ- 2001
• 2nd Senior World Women Boxing Championship-2001
• National Women Sort Meet-2001
• 32nd National Games- 2002
• 3rd Senior World Women Boxing Champ- 2003
• 4th Senior WWBC- 2004
• 5th Senior WWBC- 2004
• 6th Senior WWBC- 2005
• 10th WNBC- 2009

Awards of Mary Kom
In 2015, Mary Kom became the first amateur to surpass several professional athletes in India in earnings, endorsements and awards. Following are the awards of Mary Kom:

• The International Boxing Association (AIBA) awarded Mary Kom with the first AIBA Legends awards for "promising boxing career"
• The International Boxing Association (AIBA) announced Mary Kom as the brand ambassador for 2016 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships
• Padma Bhushan Award (Sports), 2013
• Arjuna Award (Boxing), 2003
• Padma Shree (Sports), 2006
• People of the Year- Limca Book of Records, 2007
• CNN-IBN and Reliance Industries' Real Heroes Award 14.4.2008 Mon
• Pepsi MTV Youth Icon 2008
• ‘Magnificent Mary’, AIBA 2008
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, 2009
• International Boxing Association's Ambassador for Women's Boxing 2009
• Sportswoman of the year 2010, Sahara Sports Award

Personal Life of Mary Kom
Mary Kom is married to the footballer Karung Onkholer and has 3 sons. In 2014, Priyanka Chopra played the foremost role of Mary Kom in ‘Mary Kom’, a biographical film about her life. She is an animal rights activist and supporter of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) India.

International Achievements of Mary Kom:

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