Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom, (born 1 March 1983 in Kangathei, Manipur, India) known as MC Mary Kom, Magnificent Mary or simply Mary Kom, is an Indian woman boxer. She is a five-time World Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships. She is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified and won Olympics bronze medal in 2012 London Summer Olympics. She has also been ranked as No. 4 AIBA World Women's Ranking Flyweight category.
Mary Kom began competing at the international level at the age of 18, only a year after she started boxing. Her international debut was at the first AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in the United States, where she won a silver medal in the 48 kg weight category. She followed this with a gold medal in the 45 kg class at the second AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Turkey in 2002.
In 2003, Kom won a gold medal in the 46 kg class - she would compete in this class for the next three years - at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India, and was awarded the national Arjuna Award for outstanding sporting achievement. In 2004, she won gold at the Women's Boxing World Cup in Norway, and in 2005 again won gold at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Taiwan and the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Russia. The following year, she won gold at the Venus Women's Box Cup in Denmark and the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in India.
After a two-year break, Mary Kom won a silver medal at the 2008 Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India and a fourth successive gold medal at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in China, followed by a gold medal at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam.
In 2010, Kom won the gold medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Kazakhstan, and at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Barbados, her fifth consecutive gold at the championship. She competed in Barbados in the 48 kg weight class, after AIBA had stopped using the 46 kg class. In the 2010 Asian Games, she competed in the 51 kg class - the lowest in the contest - and won a bronze medal.
In 2011, Mary Kom won gold in the 48 kg class at the Asian Women's Cup in China, and in 2012 took the gold medal in the 51 kg class at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Mongolia. She had the honour of bearing the Queen's Baton in its opening ceremony run in the stadium for the 2010 Commonwealth Games of Delhi.
In 2012 London Summer Olympics, Mary Kom stood third in the competition and won her first olympic Bronze medal. Mary Kom is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the flyweight (51 kg) category and winning the bronze medal. She carried the Indian tricolor during the closing ceremony of the 2012 summer Olympics in London.
