Mary Kom’s sixth gold medal at the World Championships is no mean achievement. In the boxing ring, it is quite a feat
In the 2012 London Olympics, Mary Kom did what she does very rarely. She lost in the semi-finals of the event to a burly Nicola Adams of England. Mary returned with only a bronze medal, after being the world champion in women’s boxing for five successive times before the Big Games. Her loss had one major technical reason. She had to fight in the 51 kg category which was quite out of her physical grasp. “I have been eating like a pig, almost puking on food every day. I wear whatever maximum number of heavy clothes I can before going on to the weighing machine. But despite all my efforts, I have barely made it on the scale of 51 kg. I don’t know how else to increase my weight. If you ask me whether I will win, I can tell you 100 per cent if it is in the 48 kg category. In 51, I will try my best,” she had said back then, just before going into the crucial bout against Adams who eventually went on to win the Gold.
The London Olympics had no provision for a 48 kg category bout in the women’s boxing section. So Mary was a little less magnificent than she is known to be. Her historic sixth gold at the world championships shows how she is the master of the 48 kg category and there are no real contenders that can punch her back to silver or a bronze. As it turns out, even on a weak, cramping and running stomach, this Manipur legend was a force none could curb. She fought the 2018 final against Ukraine’s Hanna Okota and won
5-0 on a unanimous verdict despite dehydration and diarrhoea. At 35, it is no mean achievement. In the boxing ring, it is quite a feat. Being a woman with such a sustained punch is more than just stellar, inspirational and awesome. There will not be many like Mary ever. But what she has given to a nation slim on sporting achievements is the reason to compete, the courage to fight the odds, the perseverance to continue till the bitter end and the passion to fight everything — from the system to the genes — to lord over applause and explode usual perceptions with unusual grit and determination. Once upon a time, a fictional Mary had a little lamb. Today, a real Mary has a brightly burning lamp to illuminate the nation with a Cup so dazzling, rare and singularly hers. Kom, let’s celebrate this out-of-the-box living legend!