Gentle Giant

By Aabhas Sharma

Four World Championships, recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. Will you still ask, who is MC Mary Kom?

New Delhi, Feb 21 : There are very few athletes who would actually admit that they turned professional to provide financial support to their family. But then boxer MC Mary Kom is not your usual athlete. The 27-year old from Manipur has no less than four world championships and many other medals won at international events. She has been conferred with the highest sporting honor of the country, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and is among the top sportswomen of the country.

Mary Kom is eager to continue her success story and wants to win gold at the Commonwealth Games 2010. “It will be nice to win something in front of my own countrymen,” she says. But her journey so far, has been far from ideal.

“I was inspired by boxer Dingko Singh who won a medal at the Asian Games in 2002. And while I had always been inclined towards sports, I was more of a javelin thrower and it was only after Dingko’s medal that I thought of taking up the sport more seriously,” she says.

There are echoes of a Bend it like Beckham story in Mary Kom’s life. She persisted with training sessions without telling her parents what she was doing. They found out about her boxing bouts only after she won a local championship and her pictures were published in the newspaper. “They were supportive of my decision at the end of the day,” she recalls.

Married to K Onler Kom, who runs her boxing academy, Mary Kom, like most women, juggles her family and the sport which for her is like a profession. She is an inspector with Manipur Police and says that her husband has been a huge support and she admits that is a major factor in her success. “When I am away on training, he takes care of our three-year old twin sons and of course my family also helps,” she says.

She won her first world championship way back in 2001 followed it up by repeating the feat in 2002, 2004 and 2006. The one disappointment so far is that she hasn’t been able to replicate the success in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. “Sometimes I think maybe I have achieved enough, but the dream of winning an Olympic gold can never die,” she says. Has she felt that her achievements in this cricket-mad country have been under recognized?

Yes, she candidly admits, that although she got the Khel Ratna award in 2009, it came pretty late. But it’s all a thing of the past now. “I have learnt to overcome these disappointments and carry on performing to the best of my abilities.” She bemoans the lack of support given to boxers and wants better facilities and infrastructure. “People are slowly realizing that boxing is a sport where the country can excel, there’s still a long way to go,” she says.

She set her own academy called MC Mary Kom Boxing Academy in Imphal two years ago and has about 20 boxers training there — about 15 girls and five boys. They are all from economically under-privileged families “I can relate very well to their background and struggles…” She doesn’t get enough support to run the academy but that’s doesn’t deter her, and she puts in her own money to keep it afloat.

The academy provides them food and accommodation apart from coaching. “I know what difficulties they go through and I want to help them out,” she adds. It’s not an easy task and here again she acknowledges her husband’s support — he makes sure that academy is run properly.

She’s supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation set up by sporting greats like Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone. When not in the boxing ring, she has her hands full with her home, twins and the academy.

She is training hard and wants to do well at this year’s Commonwealth Games. The big dream still remains 2012 Olympics. Past victories mean a lot , but “an Olympic medal is something I want to win,” she says with steely determination.