Mary Kom

She met K Onler Kom in 2001 when she was at New Delhi on her way to National Games in Punjab. The young man was highly impressed by Mary’s grit and ambitions. The couple dated for four years before tying the knot in 2005. They have been blessed with three sons.

Her much awaited autobiography, ‘Unbreakable’ which chronicles all her life’s struggles and how she rose above them, was released by Harper Collins in 2013.

She was born in Kangathei, Manipur, India Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom who were poor farm laborers. She was named Mangte Chungneijang at birth which means “prosperous” in her local dialect. However, she would use the name Mary in her professional career for ease of pronunciation.

She was the eldest of four siblings and had to work hard from a young age to fend for her family. She not only went to school to study, but also took care of her younger siblings and worked in the fields with her parents to help them.

She first went to Loktak Christian Model High School where she studied up to class VI standard before moving on to St. Xavier Catholic School. However, she quit studies before completing schooling.

Even as a student she displayed a keen interest in athletics and used to participate in sports like football. Funnily though, she never took part in boxing as a student.

In 1998, boxer Dingko Singh won a Gold at the Asian Games and made his motherland proud. This incident inspired her to take up boxing. However, the very task of taking up this sport became a challenge for her as her parents felt boxing was too masculine for a young girl.

Her first career win came in 2000 when she won the Best Boxer Award at the First State Level Invitation at the women’s boxing championship in Manipur. After that she proceeded to win the gold in the Seventh East India Women’s Boxing Championship held in West Bengal.

A prolific sportswoman who demonstrated a relentless passion for the game, she won a total of five National Championships from 2000 to 2005.

Between 2001 and 2006, she won the AIBA world boxing championship thrice in 2002, 2005 and 2006, and came second in 2001.

In 2008, she participated at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in India where she won a silver medal. The same year she boxed at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in China where she earned the Gold medal—her fourth successive gold medal at the championship.

The coming years were also very productive for the gritty young lady. She went to Vietnam from where she returned with a gold medal at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games.

She is best known for being a five time World Amateur Boxing Champion, a feat that definitely makes her one of the best ever women boxers world has ever produced.

Mary Kom was decorated with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2010 for her contributions to sports.

She was honored with the Padma Bhushan—the third highest civilian award in India—in 2013 for her wonderful achievements in the field of sports.

She won a Gold Medal in Flyweight category in 2014 Incheon Asian Games.