Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom was born on 24 November 1982 and is an Indian amateur boxer, politician, and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.
33 Facts About Mary Kom
2.
Mary Kom is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times, the only female boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven World Championships, and the only boxer to win eight World Championship medals.
3.
Mary Kom had been ranked as the world's No 1 female light-flyweight by the International Boxing Association.
4.
Mary Kom became the first Indian female boxer to win a gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea and is the first Indian female boxer to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
5.
Mary Kom is the only boxer to become Asian Amateur Boxing Champion for a record six times.
6.
Mary Kom won the 51kg gold in President's Cup in Indonesia.
7.
Mary Kom became the most successful boxer at world championships in 2019.
8.
Mary Kom was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, in 2020.
9.
Mary Kom was born in Kagathei village, Moirang Lamkhai in the Churachandpur district of rural Manipur in India.
10.
Mary Kom grew up in humble surroundings, helping her parents with farm-related chores, going to school, and learning athletics initially and later boxing simultaneously.
11.
Mary Kom's father was a keen wrestler in his younger days.
12.
Mary Kom studied at the Loktak Christian Model High School at Moirang up to her sixth standard and thereafter attended St Xavier Catholic School, Moirang, up to class 8.
13.
Mary Kom recollects that this had inspired many youngsters in Manipur to try boxing, and she too thought of giving it a try.
14.
Mary Kom participated in sports in school, including volleyball, football, and athletics.
15.
Mary Kom started her training under her first coach K Kosana Meitei in Imphal.
16.
Mary Kom kept her interest in boxing a secret from her father, himself an ex-wrestler, as he was concerned that boxing would hurt Mary Kom's face and spoil her chances of marriage.
17.
However, he learned of it when Mary Kom's photo appeared in a newspaper after she won the state boxing championship in 2000.
18.
Mary Kom won a silver medal at the 2008 Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India and a fourth successive gold medal at the 2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in China, followed by a gold medal at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam.
19.
In 2010, Mary Kom won the gold medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Kazakhstan, and at the 2010 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Barbados, her fifth consecutive gold at the championship.
20.
Mary Kom did not compete as women's boxing was not included in the Commonwealth Games.
21.
At the 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, Mary Kom was competing not just for the championship itself but for a place at the 2012 London Olympics in London, the first time women's boxing had featured as an Olympic sport.
22.
Mary Kom had all her luggage and passport stolen on the way to the selection camp in Bangkok, Thailand for her first Asian Women's Boxing Championships.
23.
Mary Kom faced Nicola Adams of UK in the semi-final on 8 August 2012 and lost the bout 6 points to 11.
24.
On 1 October 2014, Mary Kom won her first gold medal in the boxing at the 2014 Asian Games, held in Incheon, South Korea, by beating Kazakhstan's Zhaina Shekerbekova in the flyweight summit clash.
25.
In May 2021, Mary Kom won her 7th medal at the Asian Championships but lost the women's 51kg final on Sunday to Nazym Kazaibay.
26.
On 24 September 2012, the Super Fight League announced that Mary Kom will serve as the SFL's brand ambassador.
27.
Mary Kom set a new standard in amateur boxing without ever competing in professional boxing.
28.
In 2015, Mary Kom became the first amateur to surpass several professional athletes in India in earnings, endorsements and awards.
29.
Mary Kom is the first amateur athlete to win the Padma Bhushan.
30.
Mary Kom first met her husband in 2000 after her luggage was stolen while travelling by train to Bangalore.
31.
Mary Kom is an animal rights activist, and supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India, starring in an ad to call for an end to the use of elephants in circuses.
32.
Mary Kom has backed PETA India's humane education campaign, Compassionate Citizen.
33.
Mary Kom has written a letter to the education ministers of states and union territories across India requesting that the programme be incorporated into official school curriculums.