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A photo of Mary Kom by Press Information bureau –

Top 10 Facts about Mary Kom

Do you know Mary Kom? Well, today it’s going to be astonishing to know about her. She gained an international reputation as the woman who set numerous records and, we are going to encounter the phrase “she is the first or only…”. Please don’t be anxious! You’ll enjoy this so much?

So who is this Mary Kom? Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom was born on 01 March 1983. She is an Indian amateur boxer, politician, and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. In the article, therefore, are the top ten facts about Mary Kom.

1. She won the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times!

The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport’s governing body. They are the highest level of competition for the sport close to the Olympic boxing programme.

Winning the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times qualified her as the only woman to win in the competition six times. Mark my words the only female! I think Mary Kom was gone pro already and the management needed out-of-world contestants to pull her out of the position.

2. Where was Mary born?

A photo of Mary Kom by British High Commission, India –

I know most of us to know that Mary Kom was Indian but do you think that family and ethnic background could have encouraged her to be hard in her sport? How was her past life that she was always determined to break records every time?
Kom was born in Kagathei village, Moirang Lamkhai in the Churachandpur district of rural Manipur in India.

According to Bartleby.com “A person’s background influences the individual they become over time. Each experience a person gains molds and shapes the person they will become. What values and lessons a person learns will aid the individual in life choices.”

She came from a poor Kom family. Her parents, Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom were tenant farmers who worked in jhum fields. They named her Chungneijang. Kom grew up in humble surroundings. Coming out of nowhere village and a merely poor family must have spearheaded Mary Kom to become who she is.

3. Mary Kom is A philanthropist

The society helped Mary Kom to pursue her career diligently. When she started reaping the fruits, she paid back. Mary opened a free Mary Kom boxing championship so she could give back to society. The Mary Kom foundation focuses on children who are dedicatedly interested to represent the country in the field of boxing at the Olympic level.

4. Dingko Singh inspired to pursue boxing

Dingko Singh photo by Indian Navy –

Master Chief Petty Officer Ngangom Dingko Singh was an Indian boxer who won the gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. He was from the Northeastern Indian state of Manipur. When Dingko Singh won the gold medal, Kom recollects that this had inspired many youngsters in Manipur to try boxing, and she too thought of giving it a try.

Kom failed her matriculation exam at Adimjati High School, Imphal. So, she did not wish to reappear for them, she quit her school and gave her examination from NIOS, Imphal and graduated from Churachandpur College.

It was the success of Dingko Singh that inspired her to switch from athletics to boxing in 2000. She started her training under her first coach K. Kosana Meitei in Imphal. When she was 15, she decided to leave her hometown to study at the Imphal Sports Academy.

5. Boxing was an ideal idea that her father wanted her to pursue

Boxing as a sport for Kom was a secret sport that her father did not know about. Kom’s father was a keen wrestler in his younger days. Of course, he was experienced in how the sport could ruin faces from the trauma and injuries sustained in the sport.

Every father could deny his girl from joining such risky sports because it could ruin their futures as wives and not particularly wives due to the scars sustained in the sports.

It is said that there are no secrets between two people. Kom’s father eventually learned out that Kom was a boxer when Kom’s photo appeared in a newspaper after she won the state boxing championship in 2000.

As a father, it may have taken time for Kom’s father to comprehend the situation and it could take time to accept the fact but he had to support his kid to become a better person in life. So, after three years, her father began to support Kom’s pursuits in boxing as he grew convinced of her love of boxing.

6. She won medals after a long period of nursing as a mother in 2008

A photo of Nicola Aams in blue and Mary Kom by cormac70 –

According to World Health Organization, a mother needs to breastfeed for about the first 6 months, with continued breastfeeding along with introducing appropriate complementary foods for up to 2 years of age or longer (weaning) to gain the trust of the baby.

After her marriage, Kom took a short hiatus from boxing. After giving birth to her first child, Kom started training once again. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in India and a fourth successive gold medal at the 2008 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in China.

7. She is nicknamed Magnificent Mary

She was nicknamed Magnificent Mary because she is the only Indian female boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the flyweight (51 kg) category and winning a bronze medal.

She changed the idea of being compared to more popular sportspersons in India when she became the first Indian woman boxer to win an Olympic medal, claiming bronze in the 51kg category.

8. Kom is the only boxer to win eight World Championship medals

A photo of Mary Kom and Shri Vijay Goel by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports –

Mary Kom beat both genders in the world to win eight World Championship medals. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in India and a fourth successive gold medal at the 2008 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in China, In 2010, Kom won the gold medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in Kazakhstan, and at the 2010 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Barbados.

On 8 November 2017, she received her fifth gold medal (48 kg) at the Asian Boxing Confederation women’s boxing championships at Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. On 24 November 2018, she became the first woman to win 6 World Championships, at the 10th AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships held in New Delhi, India. In May 2021, Mary Kom won her 7th medal at the Asian Championships.

9. Mary Kom as a Member of Parliament!

On 25 April 2016, the President of India nominated Kom as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. In March 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed Mary Kom along with Akhil Kumar as national observers for boxing.

10. Kom is married to the footballer Karung Onkholer

Kom is married to the footballer Karung Onkholer. Kom first met her husband in 2000 after her luggage was stolen while travelling by train to Bangalore. In New Delhi while on her way to the National Games in Punjab she met Onkholer who was studying law at Delhi University.

Onkholer was the president of the North East students’ body and helped Kom. They became friends and thereafter began dating each other. After four years they were married in 2005. Together they have three sons, twins born in 2007, and another son born in 2013. In 2018, Kom and her husband adopted a girl named Merilyn.