Mary Kom: Olympics is my last mission
Mary Kom’s last Games was at the 2012 London Olympics where she won a bronze medal.
Star Indian flyweight boxer MC Mary Kom has stated that winning the Olympics gold medal is her career’s last mission and she is solely focussed on achieving that.
The Manipur pugilist’s first Games was at the 2012 London Olympics where Mary Kom had won the bronze medal for India. After she was unable to make it to the 2016 Olympics, the upcoming Tokyo Olympics remain her career’s last Games and she is more than prepared for it.
“Olympics is the main thing in my life right now. It is my last mission,” Mary Kom wrote in her column for Hindustan Times.
In a career that has spanned 20 years, Mary Kom has won the World Championships a record-equaling six times, the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships five times, and is the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at both the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games among other achievements.
An Olympic gold medal is the only prize that evaded her so far, and she wants to finish her glittering career by winning one.
“I have already won everything—an Olympic gold is the only thing that’s lacking in my life. I want to give my country this gift, an Olympic gold,” Mary Kom added.
At 37-year-old of age, Mary Kom has shown no signs of her reflexes slowing just yet as she moves into the twilight of a glittering career.
Her very recent feat was beating the Philippines’ Irish Magno in the quarter-finals of Asian boxing Olympic qualifiers in Amman to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
“I don’t have any worries about going on for another year, about staying strong. Mentally, physically, will power—all of it is very strong.
“No one can beat me easily; no one has more experience than me. My experience is huge, it’s my main strength,” asserted a confident Mary Kom.
Training in isolation
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to postpone the Tokyo Olympics until 2021.
That compounded by the national lockdown has further made it difficult for the athletes to continue training while being confined to their homes.
However, that hasn’t stopped Mary Kom from being herself.
“Right now, under lockdown, I am training. I train every day, no matter what. Even if there are no national camps.
“I do at least one session a day for one hour—skipping rope, shadow boxing, weight training. I also have a treadmill at home, and I run every day,” she pointed out.