World champion MC Mary Kom returned home to a quiet welcome on Sunday night after winning an unprecedented fourth successive gold medal in the 46kg category at the fifth World women’s boxing championships at Ningbo city in China.
Mary Kom has defied the longest possible odds to get back into the boxing ring and on her return she hasn’t just made up the numbers but actually beaten the best in the world.
“This gold medal is dedicated to my twins,” says Mary Kom.
They are the words of a determined mother. After winning gold at the world championships in Delhi two years back; Mary Kom walked away from the ring.
She went back to Manipur and gave birth to twins. Bt just when it seemed that domesticity had ended a grand career, Mary Kom came back punching and won the world championship for a fourth time.
“My children are very small, they are just one year and three months old and I have to leave them and represent the country in boxing competitions. My family and many others have supported me,” Mary Kom says.
The triumph in China has made her the most successful woman boxer of all time and inspiration to many.
“Mary Kom is very brave and we all are very proud of her. She has come back to represent the country after a break of two years and giving birth to twins,” says another boxer Sarita.
It was possibly one of the quietest felicitations of a world champion but that’s clearly not on Mary Kom’s mind. She is keen on 2012 London Olympics and is hoping that women’s boxing gets a go there.
“My aim is to win a medal in Olympics,” she says.
That’s still a few years away and in fact women’s boxing isn’t among the disciplines for the Commonwealth Games in 2010 in Delhi, which leaves Mary Kom no choice but to keep hitting the road in search of success.
