Mary Kom (Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom) is an Indian Olympian Boxer and incumbent Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. She was born on 1st March, 1983 in Kangthei village, Moirang Lamkhai in Churachandpur District of Rural Manipur in India. Mary Kom came from a poor family. Her parents, Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom were tenant farmers who worked in jhum fields. Mary Kom is the only woman to become world amateur boxing champion for a record six times. She also is the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven world championships. Mary Kom is the only boxer (Male or Female) to win eight world championship medals. She is nick named as Magnificent Mary. Mary Kom is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 summer Olympics, competing in the fly weight (51 kg category) and winning the bronze medal. She had also been ranked as No. 1 AIBA World Womens Ranking Light Flyweight Category. Mary Kom became the first Indian to get a gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014 at Encheon (South Korea). She also became the first Indian woman boxer to get gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Mary Kom is also the only boxer to become Asia Amateur Boxing Champion for record five times. The facts and figures have been taken from Wikipedia.
| Mary Kom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mary Kom at the British High Commission |
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| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Incumbent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 25 April 2016 |
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| Nominated by | Pranab Mukherjee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Indian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Karong Onkholer Kom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Padma Vibhushan (2020) Padma Bhushan (2013) Padma Shri (2006) |
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| Boxing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight class | Pinweight / Flyweight | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight(s) | 48 kg (106 lb) / 51 kg (112 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins by KO | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Losses | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draws | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No contests | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record[hide]
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Quotes :
01. When I started boxing, people laughed at me and said, ‘what can women do in boxing?’ I took it as a challenge. If men can do it, why can’t women? And I became a world champion before my marriage. …
02. I never told my parents that I was doing boxing. They only came to know after I became state champion and my name and picture came in the newspaper. …
03. If you are good at something, and especially, if people who matter tell you that you are good enough, you must follow that sport. …
04. Watching boxing Dingko Singh’s performance at the Asian Games, Bankok, where he won gold was the defining moment. I was 15 and enjoyed sports more than anything else. Singh’s performance changed my life and inspired me to follow boxing.
05. The boys, they are laughing; ‘Oh, you are boxing, very funny’. ‘But I always challenge when people are laughing – ‘I’ll show you one day.’ After getting five times world champion, they are all quiet. And they respect me.
06. It’s a punishment game… only two boxers get in the ring. So when we get in the ring and we’re not angry, then you’re not a real boxer.
07. Youngsters taking up boxing will get a lot of encouragement to do something for the country, seeing my laurels.
08. I took to boxing out of sheer interest and to help my parents financially.
09. Without boxing, I can’t live. I love boxing.
10. I had no support, no opportunity, and no sponsor backing me for most of my career.
11. I started athletics in 1999, throwing discuss and shot put. I didn’t tell my family when I started boxing.
12. I look like I’m Chinese or Thai or Japanese – very different.
13. Like every other athlete, I always dreamt of playing at the Olympics and it feels really good to see that dream materialize.
14. The incentive of a medal at the biggest sporting arena in the world is what drives me. Before I hang my gloves, I want to win the Olympic medal, and my performance at London will decide my future in the sport.
15. In a sport person’s life, pressure is always there; you have to learn to deal with it.
16. In Manipur, mostly the top player’s family background is very poor. I also came from a poor family, so we have to do more hard work to get money and a better life.
17. I am blessed with a reasonable athletic talent and was an athlete in school.
18. I loved playing in the fields back home and racing with my fellow students on the way to school.
19. Looking back now, I realize that belong to the family of a labourer actually helped to prepare my body for boxing. There were many times when my family didn’t have enough food or warm clothing to go around. All these made me physically, as well as emotionally tough.
20. I have a very fit body and have never faced any major injury problems. So yes, the secret to my success is my fit body.
21. I learned my weaknesses at the Asian Games and other competitions where I lost. My guard was down.
22. Every medal I have won is a story of a difficult struggle.
23. The truth is, harder you fight, and the sweeter are the rewards in the end.
24. My normal weight category is 48 kg. So for the 51 kg category, I had to depend on lots of food and drinks before going for the weight – in. But that does not make my strength, my muscles. It is a little bit different. If there’s a 48 kg category, it’s a perfect fit for me.
25. In the 46-48 categories, I know every boxer, and I defeat them whenever I fight them.
26. I can easily get a gold in the 48 kg category; but 51 kg, it’s difficult because other boxers may have a height advantage.
27. At school my favourite subject was social studies.
28. A gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics is what I’m looking for. I have to pace my training in such a way that I’m at my best in Rio, and when I’m in form, no opponent can come in my way.
29. Winning the 2012 bronze medal was magnificent, but I would love to win a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
30. You can’t walk away from your responsibilities and commitments.
31. I miss my kids, and they miss me. It’s very difficult, but I have to do it for my country and fulfill my dreams coming to the 2012 London Olympics.
32. If I can achieve success, then any one can.
33. My dream is to produce thousand Mary Koms. …MARY KOM.
34. What you sow, you will reap. What I sow, I will reap. …MARY KOM.
35. What did I hope to gain from my game and from putting parents through all this? The truth is that I love to play. My body was fit and my mind raring to go. But I also hope that I would get a government job through the sports quota. …MARY KOM.
36. With a bandage over my eye, I happily set off to play marbles with my friends – it was perfect for taking aim. MARY KOM, Unbreakable: An Autobiography. …MARY KOM.
37. People refer to Onler as ‘Mary’s husband’, but I know that behind Mary’s success, there is Onler….MARY KOM, Unbreakable: An Autobiography.
38. God – fearing and hard working, my mother is the strongest person I know…. MARY KOM, Unbreakable: An Autobiography.
39. Whether or not I look Indian, I am Indian and I represent India, with pride and all my heart. ….MARY KOM, Unbreakable: An Autobiography.
40. They had been denied a lot to make my dream possible and it was only fair that I repay them. ….MARY KOM, Unbreakable: An Autobiography.
41. A country like India has a lot of potential. I end with the hope that we will build on that. My life is my message : nothing is impossible. ….MARY KOM, Unbreakable: An Autobiography.
42. If I being a mother of two, can win a medal, so can you all. Take me as an example and don’t give up. ….MARY KOM, Unbreakable: An Autobiography.
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS :
Member of Rajya Sabha :
On 25.04.2016, the President of India nominated Mary Kom as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament.
National Observer for Boxing:
In March 2017, the ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of India appointed Mary Kom along with Akhil Kumar as National Observer for Boxing Title.
Title “Meethol Leima” (Great or Exceptional Lady) :
After her 6th world title in 2018, the Govt. of Manipur has conferred on her the title “Meethol Leima”.
M.C.Mary Kom Road :
The then Chief Minister of Manipur on 11.12.2018 in a felicitation ceremony held in Imphal, declared that the stretch of road leading to the National Games Village in Imphal West District, where Mary Kom currently resides, would be named as M.C.Mary Kom Road.
Padma Vibhushan :
Mary Kom was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award in 2020.
BIOPIC ON MARY KOM :
A biopic on Mary Kom was produced in 2014. The role of Mary Kom was played by Priyanka Chopra. We see Darshan Kumar and Sunil Thapa in supporting roles. And Sunil Thapa has played the role of her husband and mentor.
It is the chronicle of the life of Indian Boxer Mary Kom. Her struggle to become a world class and world champion boxer is interesting, engrossing and inspirational.
Mary Kom depicts Kom’s journey of becoming a boxer to her victory at the 2008 World Boxing Championship in Ningbo.
This film is directed by Omung Kumar and produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
This film has participated in Toronto International Film Festival in 2014.
Review of the Film :
The Economic Times gave a rating of 4 stars out of 5, noting that the film is well on its way to being one of the most praised sports-based film since Chak De India and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and wrote “This is one of those boxing movies which is much more than boxing”.
Awards for this Film :
This film bagged National Film Award for popular film 2015 also bagged many other awards. This was also a commercially successful movie.
….Ratikanta Singh.
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