Mary Kom: from Manipur's fields to six world boxing titles

Childhood work that built strength

Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom was born in 1982 in Churachandpur district of Manipur, in India's north-east. Her family had very little money. Her father, Mangte Tonpa Kom, was a farmer, and Mary was the eldest child.

She did a lot of hard physical work as a girl. In a 2018 interview shown by Scroll, she explained that while her mother handled the house, she helped her father in the fields. The Quint has written that she also cut wood in the forest for the kitchen fire and went fishing, and that she ran cross-country in the jungle near her village. The Quint's writer suggests that cutting wood built her physical strength, while fishing improved her concentration. Long before any gym or coach, everyday work was shaping her body. Boys in the village made fun of her, because girls there did not usually play sport. She kept running anyway.

“I never miss my training.”

— M. C. Mary Kom, via The Quint (FIT)

Choosing boxing

In 1998, Manipuri boxer Dingko Singh won a gold medal at the Asian Games in Bangkok. That win sparked her interest in boxing. In 2000 she switched from athletics to boxing.

According to The Quint, she left her school in Moirang so that she could train full-time, around the clock. Her training included long hours of shadow boxing, which means practising punches and footwork against an imaginary opponent.

World champion, again and again

Her first Women's World Championships came in 2001, and she won silver. After that she won gold at the World Championships in 2002, 2005 and 2006.

Her twin sons were born in 2007. After a break from the ring, she returned to training and won world titles again in 2008 and 2010.

At the London 2012 Olympics she fought in the 51 kg flyweight class, above the lighter weights where she had won her world titles. She won her first two bouts and lost the semi-final to Britain's Nicola Adams, taking home the bronze medal for India.

More firsts followed. She won gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, the first Commonwealth Games gold by an Indian woman boxer.

A sixth world title at 35

In November 2018, the Women's World Championships were held in New Delhi. Mary Kom, then 35 and a mother of three, reached the 48 kg final against Hanna Okhota of Ukraine. She won 5-0. It was her sixth world gold, more than any other woman boxer.

By then she was also a Member of Parliament, nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2016. Speaking after the title, she said she had kept training through it all and had worked very hard for the win.

The skills and habits that made the difference

Consistency is the habit she talks about most. In a 2018 interview with The Quint's FIT, she said she never misses her training. She also said that skipping rope is a regular part of her routine, and that she sometimes plays badminton to stay fit.

She has also changed how she trains as she has grown older. Scroll reported in 2018 that her coaches moved her towards shorter, sharper counter-punching sessions instead of long sparring rounds. She often stayed back after team sessions for extra pad work and stretching. She explained that she now throws fewer wasted punches so that she has enough energy to last all three rounds.

On food, she told FIT that she had not changed her diet much. She said rice is her staple, that she avoids very spicy food, and that she takes supplements. She said keeping to her weight category was not hard for her because of her regular training.

Recovery matters too. She admitted that her injuries had increased with age, and said the physiotherapists at the training camp help keep her fit. She has also said that having children did not affect her body. Instead of ignoring injuries, she relies on expert help to manage them.