Mary Kom. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Name: Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom
Born: 1 March 1982, Kangathei, Manipur
State: Manipur
Sport: Boxing
Early life
Mary Kom was born on 1 March 1982 in Kangathei village, Churachandpur district, Manipur, the eldest of three children in a family of tenant farmers. She grew up helping her parents in the fields and initially took an interest in athletics, competing in events such as the 400 metres and javelin at school. It was the success of fellow Manipuri boxer Dingko Singh at the 1998 Asian Games that drew her towards boxing, a sport she took up around 2000 despite having to train in secret at first, since her father disapproved of a girl boxing.
Breaking through in a new sport for women
Women’s boxing was in its infancy internationally when Mary Kom began, and she rose through the ranks quickly, winning her first World Championship gold in only her second year of serious competition, at the inaugural Women’s World Boxing Championships in the United States in 2002. She went on to win five more world titles, in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018, along with a silver and a bronze, making her the most successful woman in the history of the World Championships and the only boxer, male or female, to win a medal at every one of the first six editions of the tournament.
Adapting to reach the Olympics
Mary Kom competed for most of her career in the 46kg and 48kg categories, but when women’s boxing was added to the Olympic programme, the sport was restricted to just three weight classes, the lowest being 51kg. She had to bulk up and rebuild her style around the heavier flyweight division, and did so successfully enough to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, the first time women’s boxing featured at the Games. She won bronze there, becoming the only Indian woman boxer to win an Olympic medal at that point, a result that turned her into a household name across the country and helped raise the profile of women’s boxing in India considerably.
Asian and Commonwealth success
Mary Kom added an Asian Games bronze at Guangzhou in 2010 and became the first Indian woman boxer to win Asian Games gold, at Incheon in 2014. She won six Asian Championship titles across different weight categories between 2003 and 2017, and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast she won gold in the light flyweight category, becoming the first Indian woman boxer to win a Commonwealth Games title. She continued competing into her late thirties, well past the age at which most boxers retire, a testament to the fitness and discipline she maintained throughout a career that spanned two decades at the top of her sport.
Public life and recognition
Mary Kom married footballer Onkholer Kom in 2005, and the couple have three sons and an adopted daughter. She published her autobiography, Unbreakable, in 2013, and was the subject of the 2014 Bollywood biopic Mary Kom, in which she was played by Priyanka Chopra. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 and served a six-year term representing sport, before being succeeded by fellow athlete P.T. Usha in 2022. Beyond the ring, she has also been involved in animal welfare campaigns and continues to mentor young boxers from the north-east of India, a region that has produced a disproportionate share of the country’s boxing talent over the past two decades.
Achievements and awards
Six-time World Champion, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018; bronze medallist, 2012 London Olympics; gold medallist, 2014 Asian Games, Incheon; bronze medallist, 2010 Asian Games, Guangzhou; gold medallist, 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast; six-time Asian Championships gold medallist; Arjuna Award, 2003; Padma Shri, 2006; Padma Bhushan, 2013; Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, 2009; Padma Vibhushan, 2020; nominated member, Rajya Sabha, 2016-2022.
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