Mary Kom to Sania Mirza: Meet Indian sports’ super moms

In ancient Greece and Rome, festivals honouring the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele were commonplace.

In the modern-day, the concept of Mother’s Day was established in 1914 after Woodrow Wilson, the former US president, signed a measure that officially recognised the second Sunday of May as Mother's Day. The tradition continues even today and the day is celebrated with much fanfare worldwide, including in India.

There are a lot of similarities between mothers and athletes as both need to overcome formidable challenges to win in life and sports. And we have seen many super moms light up the sports arena over the years.

Just to name a few, in tennis, Kim Clijsters won the US Open one year after her daughter's birth, whereas Serena Williams won the Australian Open when she was eight weeks pregnant. Swimmer Dara Torres, at 41, won a silver medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, 16 months after giving birth to her first child.

India, too, boasts many such super moms who have done their country proud at the highest level in sports. Here are those inspiring stories.

Mary Kom

Mary Kom, a mother to four children, is the epitome of a super mom in India. Also known as ‘Magnificent Mary’ for her exploits in the boxing ring, Mary Kom is one of the finest boxers India has ever produced.

After winning several international laurels, Mary Kom got married to footballer Karung Onkholer in 2005 and two years later, she became a mother to twin boys – Rechungvar and Khupneivar. But it did not take long for her to return to the ring as in the very next year, she won a silver medal at the 2008 Asian women's boxing championships.

In the same year, she won her fourth successive gold medal at the Women's World Boxing Championships in the People’s Republic of China.

Her performances continued to soar and the jewel in her crown remains the bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics. She overcame Karolina Michalczuk and Maroua Rahali of Tunisia before losing to Nicola Adams in the semi-finals. It was enough to seal a bronze for Mary Kom.

“People used to think that I could win only when I was not married but after getting married and having children, I continued to win. Yes, I had to struggle as it's not easy to make a comeback after having children. (But) God made me so so so special. I decided that until I achieve it, I won't quit,” Mary Kom told India Today.

In 2013, Mary Kom gave birth to her third child Prince Chungthanglen, again a boy. She once again made a resounding comeback to the ring and became the first Indian female boxer to win a gold medal at the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea.

In 2018, Mary Kom adopted a baby daughter named Merilyn. Incidentally, the occasion coincided with Mary winning her sixth world championships gold medal – a record.

“When we were talking about adopting a girl, Merilyn came into our lives. On November 26, 2018, two good things happened to me. The first, I won gold at the world championships in Delhi and the second, Merilyn came into my life. When I was standing on the podium in tears, I was waiting to hold my little girl. Now, I can say my family is complete,” she said.

Incidentally, a majority of Mary Kom’s stacked list of international accomplishments, including her Olympic medal, has come after she became a mother.

Sania Mirza

India’s very own tennis sensation Sania Mirza is an inspiration for many budding athletes. She won six Grand Slam titles (in doubles and mixed doubles) and was also India’s No. 1 singles player until she retired from singles in 2013. In 2010, she married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, and the couple had a baby boy – Izhaan – in October 2018.

Sania Mirza soon returned to training and lost 26kgs to make herself competition-ready. In December 2019, she returned to the Indian Fed Cup squad after being named in the five-member team. However, it was at the Hobart International in January 2020 that she played competitive tennis for the first time since taking her maternity break in October 2017.

It was a fairytale start as she lifted the WTA doubles trophy with partner Nadiia Kichenok after edging out Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang in the final in straight sets. It was her 42nd WTA doubles title.

“I have won so many tournaments in my life and there’s so much that I have achieved and everything. But that feeling when I won in Hobart was irreplaceable,” Sania Mirza told Olympics.com.

“Because I knew that I had earned it. I earned it for myself and my son and I earned it after a huge battle with so much more that went through it.

“It was not just about working hard and your talent, it was also about taking care of a baby while being on the road. That emotional satisfaction, I have never felt in my life,” Sania reasoned.

In September 2021, Sania Mirza won her second title after becoming a mother after clinching the Ostrava Open women’s doubles crown with Chinese partner Shuai Zhang. Sania Mirza retired from competitive tennis in 2023.

Dipika Pallikal

The first Indian woman to be ranked in the top 10, Dipika Pallikal is the poster girl of Indian squash.

Dipika Pallikal got married to Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik in 2013 before going on to win laurels on the international stage. The multiple Commonwealth Games and Asian Games medallist, however, stepped away from the sport in 2018, shortly after winning a singles bronze at the Jakarta Asian Games.

Dipika Pallikal gave birth to twin boys, Kabir and Zian, on October 18, 2021, and decided to make a comeback in 2022.

At the world doubles squash championships in Glasgow, Dipika Pallikal, returning to the sport after three long years, created history. She won the mixed doubles gold with Saurav Ghosal shortly before clinching the women’s doubles crown with Joshna Chinappa.

These were India’s first titles at the squash world championships.

Later in 2022, Dipika won the mixed doubles bronze at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and a year later, along with Harinder Pal Sandhu earned the distinction of being the first mixed doubles squash champions at the Asian Games, winning a gold at Hangzhou 2023.

Juggling the responsibilities of being a mother and a professional athlete takes a lot of effort but Dipika seems to have struck a fine balance.

“I like these responsibilities. Maybe I perform a little better with that responsibility on my shoulders,” Dipika, who has decided to focus exclusively on doubles since her comeback, said.

“For a year-and-a-half, I didn’t want to return. But after the boys were born, I wanted to pull up my sleeves and come back. There are lots of people pulling you down, telling you ‘you should be home with the kids.’ Then there’s the self-doubt. But proving people wrong has always been a big thing for me,” Dipika Pallikal told the Indian Express.

PT Usha

PT Usha needs no introduction. One of India’s greatest sprinters ever, PT Usha almost got India an Olympic medal in the 400m hurdles at Los Angeles 1984. She was a force on the Asian scene, winning medals galore at the Asian athletics championships and the Asian Games.

In 1991, PT Usha married V Srinivasan and a year later the couple had a baby boy. For the next three years, she kept herself away from athletics.

In 1994, PT Usha decided to make a comeback and started training under her husband. In the same year, she participated at the Asian Games in Hiroshima and finished fourth in the 200m. But in the 4x400m relay, she won silver along with G.V. Dhanalakshmi, Shiny Wilson, and Kutty Saramma.

PT Usha starred at the 1998 Fukuoka Asian championships in Japan, winning four medals: a gold in the 4x100m relay, a silver in the 4x400m relay and a bronze each in the 200m and 400m.

In fact, PT Usha’s time of 23.27s in the 200m at Fukuoka was quicker than the 23.44s she timed to win gold at the 1986 Asian Games.

Deepika Kumari

Deepika Kumari, a former world No. 1 and Arjuna awardee, carried India’s ambitions in recurve archery on the world stage for over a decade.

Married to fellow Indian archer Atanu Das, Deepika Kumari took a long leave of absence from archery to give birth to a girl child, Vedika, in December 2022.

The three-time Olympian showed that the long hiatus did not diminish her hunger for success as she clinched the recurve women’s individual gold at the National Games 2023 in Goa.

“This new life is not an easy change for me, it's a 360-degree change,” Deepika said after the event. “I talk with people around me so that I can manage my frustration and remain calm about everything because I have accepted the fact that this is my life now and I have to manage it all by balancing both worlds.”

Deepika’s balancing act started with dividing her time between taking care of her daughter without dropping the intensity of her training with her sights set on making a comeback in the Indian team.

“My day starts earlier now at 5:00 AM or sometimes even 4:00 AM. I like to spend some time with my daughter in the morning before I leave for practice at 7:30 AM,” Deepika revealed.

“I return home by noon, then rest a little and leave again for practice and workout at 3:30 PM. I have a goal of shooting at least 300-350 arrows daily to get back to my best,” she added.

With less than three months to go before the Paris 2024 Olympics, Deepika Kumari displayed great form by winning a silver medal at the Archery World Cup stage in Shanghai in April.

It was Deepika’s second successive medal at the international level since returning from a 14-month maternity break. Deepika won the gold medal at the 2024 Asia Cup in February.

Suma Shirur

Suma Shirur is a former Indian shooter who competed in the 10m air rifle event. She is married to Siddharth Shirur, an architect, and the couple had a baby boy in 2001.

Within five months of her delivery, she embarked on a 40-day European trip with the Indian national shooting team. Shirur won a gold medal during that trip in the Baltic Cup during the tour.

Suma Shirur participated at the Athens 2004 Olympics where she finished eighth. In the same year, she set a world record by scoring the maximum 400 points in the qualification round at the Asian Shooting Championship**.**

All her major international medals, including a gold in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, came after she became a mother.

Pramila Aiyappa

Pramila Aiyappa was an elite Indian heptathlon athlete who made her first appearance at the Olympics in 2000. She, however, missed out on a berth for Athens 2004 which left her heartbroken.

After becoming a mother in 2005, Pramila came back with a renewed focus and managed to achieve her dream.

After almost a year of hard training, she got back into shape and continued her hard work with the aim of qualifying for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Finally, during the national combined events at Sports Authority of India (SAI) Bengaluru on July 18, 2008, she breached the Olympic qualification mark and booked a ticket to Beijing, where she finished 27th.

Two years later, at 33, she won a bronze medal at the Asian Games 2010 before hanging up her spikes.

“I sacrificed and I achieved. I didn’t feel like I had let my daughter down. Now I give all my time to her,” Pramila said.

Rachita Mistry

Rachita Mistry is an Arjuna Award-winning sprinter from Odisha who has several national and international accolades under her belt. In 1995, she found out that she was pregnant after she fainted during a training session.

“Not a single time did I feel I shouldn’t have delivered,” Rachita told Scroll. “In fact, I always say I’m lucky at the right time I delivered my baby. After that, I started achieving better, better, better. I wanted to become a mother. I became a mother. I wanted to do all those things for my daughter, (so) I did them.”

Four years after the birth of her child, she broke PT Usha's national record in the 100m by clocking 11.38s, which stood for 16 years before Dutee Chand timed 11.33s in 2016. Rachita Mistry had said several times that her target was to become faster than her idol PT Usha.

Even before that, Rachita Mistry became a national champion in 1997 and the following year, she won the 100m bronze at the Asian Games. In fact, in 1998, she got an opportunity to represent India along with PT Usha at the 1998 Asian Championships in the 4x100m relay and the team won gold. In the same year, Rachita Mistry was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Indian government.

Interestingly, she also went on to break PT Usha's 200m record by clocking 23.10s which was later overtaken by Saraswati Saha in 2002.