"Unbeatable Super Mom - Mary Kom"

 

There had to be one successful story if Indians

were to survive in sports and we have that story now.

Enough has been said about this great warrior who

conquered the world. This warrior is none other than

Mary Mangte Kom-the Komqueror and the Komrade.

She is famed as a five times World Boxing Champion

and the only boxer to win a medal in every one of

the six world championships. In the 2012 Olympics,

she became the first Indian woman boxer to qualify

and win a bronze medal in the 51 Kg flyweight

category of Boxing.

Kom was born is Kangthei village, Moirang

Lamkhai in Churachandpur district of rural Manipur in

eastern India. She came from a poor family. Her

parents, Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom

were tenant farmers who worked in jhum fields. Kom

grew up in humble surroundings, helping her parents

with farm related chores, going to school and learning

athletics initially and later boxing simultaneously. Her

father was a keen wrestler in his younger age.

She had an eager interest in athletics since

childhood and the success of Dingko Singh a fellow

Manipuri returned from the 1998 Bangkok Asian games

with a gold medal, Kom recollects had inspired many

youngsters in Manipur to try boxing and she too

thought of giving it a try.

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. Her greatness is

reinforced by the way she apoligized to the whole

nation for not being able to win the Gold. She is a

legend for sure and an idol for all the sportswomen to

look up to.