Mary Kom was born into a poor farming family in Manipur, a rural area of northeast India. She had a busy childhood and helped on the farm as well as going to school and practising athletics. She loved lots of sports, including football, volleyball and athletics. Mary’s inspirational role model was Dingko Singh, an athlete from Manipur also, who won a gold medal in boxing at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. So, she decided to try her hand at boxing too. Although her father had been a wrestler, he was initially reluctant to support Mary. He worried that she would get hurt and be unable to find a husband, so Mary kept it a secret. One day, he saw her picture in the paper and began to fully realise her love of boxing. From then on, he supported her. She did get married, and after the birth of her first child, she quickly resumed her training.

Growing up, life was not always easy, but Mary’s perseverance kept her focused on what she wanted to achieve.

Mary won silver at the 2008 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and, a year later, gold at the Asian Indoor Games. She went on to have more children and also took the time to run a sports club in Manipur for budding boxers. Over the years, Mary won many more medals, including bronze at the 2012 Olympics. She also won medals at the Asian Games and gold at the Commonwealth Games. In total, she has won over 20 medals in almost twenty years – no wonder she’s known as Magnificent Mary!

In 2016, the President of India nominated Mary to the upper house of the Indian parliament, known as the Rajya Subha. Animal rights is a cause close to her heart, and she is a supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in India. She said, “One of the best ways to knock out cruelty to animals is to teach compassion to young people. Animals need us in their corner. With violence seemingly all around us, it is more important than ever that we teach lessons of respect and kindness in the classroom.”

Mary reminds those around her to stay the course when doing what you are passionate about. Whilst successful today in sports and politics, she recognises her humble beginnings as a member of a family that worked as tenant farmers in the rural district of Manipur.