Mary Kom wins Gold at the World Championships. This headline has become normal over the course of Mary Kom’s career. She has a knack of winning gold medals at World Championships and no wonder this is her sixth one!
She whitewashed her Ukrainian opponent Hanna Okhota 5-0 in the 48-kg category to tie with the Cuban legend Felix Savon’s haul at the world championships. After winning the medal, she dedicated her victory to India. A lot has been said about her achievements but she deserves more. A girl from the small state of Manipur fought against all odds to achieve the highest glory possible in the world of boxing.
She was born in a poor family of farm labourers and is the eldest of four children. She faced a lot of opposition for the choice of her career. In rural India, women are supposed to do household chores and raise children. They are not allowed to work professionally, let alone choose a sport which is considered “masculine” by social standards.
After her win, the Twitteratti was abuzz with congratulatory messages from everyone in the country from Amitabh Bachchan to Sachin Tendulkar. But one congratulatory message stood out. The president of India Ram Nath Kovind described her victory beautifully in the following tweet:
Her journey from the small village of Kangathei in Manipur to being the best female boxer of all time is a story that is inspiring millions of girls in patriarchal India to achieve their dreams. She inspires not only young girls who aspire a career in boxing but also all women who have had to suffer at the hands of the biased standards towards them.
Named as Mangte at birth which means prosperous, she chose the name “Mary” when she entered the world of sports as it was easier to pronounce. Her achievements have ensured that this name will go down in history as the greatest ever female boxer.
