A true hero, Mary Kom

Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom, born 1 March 1983, also known as MC Mary Kom, Magnificent Mary or simply Mary Kom, is an Indian boxer belonging to Kom tribal community of north-eastern state of Manipur.
Mary is a five time world boxing champion  and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships.She is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the flyweight (51kg) category and winning the bronze medal.
She has also been ranked as No. 4 AIBA World Women's Ranking Flyweight category.

Mary was born in Kangathei, in Churachanpur district of Manipur.She completed her primary education from Loktak Christian Model High School, Moirang, up to her class VI standard and attended St. Xavier Catholic School, Moirang, up to class VIII. She then moved to Adimjati High School, Imphal, for her schooling for class IX and X, but could not pass her exam. She did not want to reappear for her exams so she quit her school and gave her examination from NIOS, Imphal and graduation from Churachandpur College
She had a keen interest in athletics from childhood, it was the success of Dingko Singh (He was born on 1 January 1979 in a remote village in Manipur to a very poor family. Dingko had to fight back adversities right since the beginning of his life, and was brought up in an orphanage.Won the King's cup in Bangkok in 1997 Won the Asian Games gold in the 1998 Bangkok Games Ngangom Dingko Singh, usually known as Dingko Singh is an Indian Boxer, and considered to be one of the most outstanding boxers the nation has ever produced. He is well known for having grabbed a Gold Medal in the boxing event at the Bangkok Asian Games in Thailand- 1998. ) that inspired her to become a boxer in 2000.


Mary initially tried to hide her interest in boxing from her family, since it was not considered a suitable sport for a woman. However, after her victory in the Manipur state women's boxing championship in 2000, her career became public; her father discovered his daughter's achievement through a photograph in a newspaper. After winning the regional championship in West Bengal, Kom began competing at the international level at the age of 18, only a year after she started boxing. Her international debut was at the first AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in the United States, where she won a silver medal in the 48 kg weight category. She followed this with a gold medal in the 45 kg class at the second AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Turkey in 2002
In 2003, Mary won a gold medal in the 46 kg class - she would compete in this class for the next three years - at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India, and was awarded the national Arjuna Award for outstanding sporting achievement. In 2004, she won gold at the Women's Boxing World Cup in Norway, and in 2005 again won gold at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Taiwan and the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Russia. The following year, she won gold at the Venus Women's Box Cup in Denmark and the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in India. Her victory in the World Championship was marred by illness; the final had to be suspended in the second round, with Kom leading 19-4.

After a two-year break, she won a silver medal at the 2008 Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India and a fourth successive 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.

In 2010, Kom won the gold medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Kazakhstan,and at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Barbados, her fifth consecutive gold at the championship. She competed in Barbados in the 48 kg weight class, after AIBA had stopped using the 46 kg class. In the 2010 Asian Games, she competed in the 51 kg class - the lowest in the contest - and won a bronze medal.In 2011, she won gold in the 48 kg class at the Asian Women's Cup in China,and in 2012 took the gold medal in the 51 kg class at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Mongolia.and in 2012 took the gold medal in the 51 kg class at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Mongolia.

Olympic gold medal for India 

At the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, Kom was competing not just for the championship itself but also for a place at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the first time women's boxing had featured as an Olympic sport. She was defeated in the 51 kg quarter-finals by Nicola Adams of the UK (to whom she would eventually lose in the semifinal of the London 2012 Olympic Games as well), making this the first year since the championship began that Kom did not win a medal, but did succeed in getting a place for the Olympics. She was the only Indian woman to qualify for boxing event, with Laishram Sarita Devi narrowly missing a place in the 60 kg class.