Mary Kom joins boxing camp; Steps up Tokyo 2020 preparations
It has been almost a year since she last took to the ring
Six-time world champion M.C.Mary Kom has joined the boxing national camp currently underway at Bellary’s Inspire Institute of Sport.
She is currently in quarantine but is expected to start training on Monday as she kick-starts her preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The London 2012 bronze medallist hastested negative for Covid-19. It has almost been a year since Mary Kom stepped into the ring.
She last saw action in March 2020 at the Asian Olympic qualifying event in Amman, Jordan, where she had secured qualification for Tokyo in the 51kg category.
Mary Kom had since stayed away from the elite national camp and competitions because of the pandemic. This is the longest she has stayed away from the ring.
She felt that it was high time she resumed preparations for Tokyo, given that the Olympics is less than seven months away.
“Things are much better now, and the vaccine coming was good news. I had a discussion with my husband and coach and felt it was time to go out there and train. I had to take this step because if I don’t do proper training for another month, I will be late in my preparations for the Tokyo Olympics and won’t be able to achieve my dream,” Mary Kom to Hindustan Times.
The boxing national camp started on December 26, 2020, and will run till February 18, 2021. Indian boxing’s High Performance Director Santiago Nieva and women’s chief coach Raffelle Bergamasco are also in Bellary at the camp which includes 52 elite boxers including 22 women.
“I was taking all precautions against Covid and I contracted dengue (in November). I had a fever for a week; my body was feeling very weak, I was barely able to speak for 2-3 days. I was sapped of energy and fighting negative thoughts. I also gained 5-6 kg weight. After I recovered, the kids had chickenpox one after another. It was a very tough phase for the family,” said the 37-year-old.
Mary Kom, mother to three sons and a daughter, is an inspirational boxer and is held in high regard throughout the country.
She revealed that during lockdown, she tried to keep herself fit by training with her coach Chote Lal along with a physio and a strength and conditioning expert.
“I am still recovering and I am 80-90 per cent now. But the rhythm is coming back. I will start slowly, don’t want to push myself immediately otherwise, there will be chances of injury. I will see how the body takes the strain and step up accordingly.”
Mary Kom badly wants to get competitive action before she takes part in the Olympics.
“The coaches are there to take a call on how to go about training and preparation. The good thing is that I have qualified and I have the experience. I would like to take part in at least 2-3 competitions before the Olympics and get into that rhythm of fighting. You can’t go to the Olympics without taking part in any competition. It is about one bout and you will be knocked out. It has been close to a year since I competed,” said Mary Kom.