Mary Kom Honoured As The Best Asian Female Athlete By Asian Sportswriters Union

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Mary Kom, a 36-year-old Indian boxer and a mom of three children was named as 'Best Asian Female Athlete' at the 1st ever 'Awards for Asia' ceremony organised by Asian Sportswriters Union on Tuesday in Malaysia.

Mary Kom was able to grab this award based on her splendid performance in the Asian women boxing scene. She is the only women boxer to become a champion six times in World Boxing Championships.

On the occasion, Amirudin Shari, the Chief Minister of Selangor distributed prizes to the winners. To mention, in November 2018, this ace Indian boxer had won her sixth gold medal at World Championships organised in New Delhi by defeating Ukraine's Hanna Okhota.

Kom is now eyeing to win the seventh gold medal at Women World Boxing Championships to be held in Yekaterinburg (Russia) between 7 September to 21 September. This time she will participate in the 51kg weight category, not in her general 48kg weight category.

Interesting Facts About Mary Kom

• She quit her studies when she was in class 7th to continue with her passion for boxing. Later she completed her studies and even her graduation through private final exams.
• It was the success of Dingko Singh, a gold medalist Indian boxer that inspired her to take up boxing.
• In the beginning, her family didn't support her because of choosing the unconventional women's game at that time.
• In the year 2001 at World Amateur Boxing Championship (USA), she grabbed a silver medal, the age when she was just 18.
• During her practise days, almost for 5 years, she was without proper and healthy foods but still, continued to fight in the game.
• Due to her excellent contribution in the field, the International Amateur Boxing Association named her 'Magnificent Mary' and it was for the first time that a sportsperson was given a nickname by a recognized and famous sports organization.
• Her motherhood didn't become trouble in the way of her passion and she continued boxing even after becoming a mother of twins for the first time.
• She became the first Indian female boxer to enter the Olympics in the year 2012 after her excellent performance in AIBA championship in 2012.
• She owns a Boxing Academy at her hometown since 2007 in which she gives free boxing training to underprivileged girls.
• She received several prestigious awards and recognitions like Arjuna Award (2003), Padma Shri (2006), and Padma Bhushan (2013).
• Her biography named 'unbreakable' was released in the year 2013 and a movie named 'Mary Kom' based on her life was released in 2014 in which Priyanka Chopra played her character.