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.
Background
Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom was born in 1983 on 1st of March into a poor family of farmers. Her parents Mr. Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mrs. Mangte Akham Kom would work hard in others’ jhum fields to make their living. She had her adversity and inconvenience and several short as well as long term troubles to stumble upon. She would assist her parents in fields and shoulder various household responsibilities. However, her never-say-die attitude, strong faith in herself, persistence and desire for outstanding accomplishments took her to the world from a small and remote Himalayan village.
Career
Mary Kom’s career started in 2000 after her victory in the Manipur state women's boxing championship and the regional championship in West Bengal. In 2001, she started competing at international level. She was only 18 years old when she made her international debut at the first AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in United States, winning a silver medal in the 48 kg weight category. In 2002, she won a gold medal in the 45 kg weight class at the second AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Turkey. She also won a gold medal in the 45 kg weight category at the Witch Cup in Hungary in the same year. In 2003, Mary Kom won a gold medal in the 46 kg weight class at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India and in 2004 she won a gold medal at the Women's Boxing World Cup in Norway. In 2005, she again won a gold medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Taiwan and the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Russia both in the 46 kg weight class. In 2006, she won a gold medal at the Venus Women's Box Cup in Denmark and won gold again at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in India. After a one year break, Mary Kom returned in 2008 to win a silver medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship held in India and won a fourth successive gold medal at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in China, both were in the 46 weigh category. In 2009 she won a gold medal at the Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam.
In 2010, Mary Kom won a gold medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Kazakhstan and her fifth consecutive gold medal in the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Barbados. She competed in the 48 kg weight class because AIBA had discontinued using the 46 kg class. She also participated in the 51 kg weight class at the Asian Games and won a bronze medal. In the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, India. She had the honor of holding the Queen's Baton along with Vijender Singh for the opening ceremony run in the stadium. However, she did not compete as women's boxing event was not included in the Games. In 2011, she won a gold medal in the 48 kg weight class at the Asian Women's Cup in China. In 2012, she won a gold medal in the 51 kg weight class at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Mongolia. The 2012 London Olympics brought her more respect and honor as she became the first Indian women boxer to qualify and win a bronze medal at the Olympics. She took part in the 51 kg weight category and also became the third Indian woman to win an individual medal at the Olympics.
Achievements
Witch Cup Boxing Championship, Paes , Hungary (Gold Medal) 27 – 31 Aug 2002
2nd World Women Boxing Championship, Antalya , Turkey (Gold Medal) 19 – 28 Oct 2002
1st World Women Boxing Championship, Pennsylvania , United States of America (Silver Medal) 27Nov -02Dec’02
Training – Cum – Competition, Rome , Italy (3Gold Medal) 02 – 13 Sep. 2003
2nd Asian Women Boxing Championship, Hissar India (Gold Medal) 19 – 22 Nov 2003
1st World Women Boxing Tournament, Tonsberg , Norway (Gold Medal) 27/4 – 02/5 2004
3rd World Women Boxing Championship, Podolsk , Russia (Gold Medal) 26Sep-2 Oct’2005
3rd Asian Women Boxing Championship, Taiwan (Gold Medal) 05 – 12 Aug 2005
Asian Cadet Boxing Championship, Hanoi , Vietnam (Gold Medal) 10 – 18 June 2006
4th World Women Boxing Championship, N.Delhi , India (Gold Medal) 17 – 24 Nov 2006
