who is Mary Kom?

About Mary Kom
Five-time world champion MC Mary Kom added another feather to her already crowded cap by becoming the only Indian woman boxer to qualify for the London Olympics.

The 29-year-old Manipuri boxer luckily made the cut after her quarterfinal nemesis Nicola Adams of England defeated Russia's Elena Savelyeva in the semifinals. But she returned without a medal from the Women's World Boxing Championships for the first time since its inception in 2001.

The mother-of-two boxer usually fights at light flyweight (48kg) level but changed to flyweight (51kg), so that she can participate in the Olympics and was therefore punching above her weight. She has qualified for the Olympics by finishing as one of the top two Asian boxers at the world championships.

Women boxing is being included for the first time in the quadrennial extravaganza and has only three weight divisions: flyweight, lightweight and middleweight.

Hmangte Chungneijang Mary Kom, also known as MC Mary Kom or simply Mary Kom, (born 1 March 1983) is aboxer from Manipur, India.She 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 51 kg category, where she is currently ranked world no. 4 in the 51 kg women's category by AIBA



Early life and family

Mary Kom was born in Kangathei, Manipur. Her parents, Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom, worked injhum fields. She completed her primary education from Loktak Christian Model High School, Moirang, up to her class VI standard and attended St. Xavier 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.[1] Although she had a keen interest in athletics from childhood, it was the success of Dingko Singh that inspired her to become a boxer in 2000.

She is married to K Onler Kom and has twin sons, Rechungvar and Khupneivar.


Early career

Kom 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 thefirst 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.