Mary Kom wins historic sixth World Championships gold

Vinayak Padmadeo
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 24

When Mary Kom stepped up to fight for her sixth World Championships gold, the packed KD Singh Jadhav Stadium went crazy, and chants of “Mary Kom, Mary Kom” rent the air.

The expectations were high, but Mary Kom was not going to be weighed down by them — she delivered a decisive win over Ukraine’s Hanna Okhota in the final of the 48kg category.

The nimble-footed Mary, clearly the superior boxer, won her sixth World Championships gold with a unanimous 5-0 verdict. The win made her emotional and she freely shed tears.

“I am a little emotional as there is no 48kg category in the Olympics. But because of your love and support, I will be able to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (in 51kg division),” she said.

Mary last won a World Championships medal back in 2010. Since then, she lost in the quarterfinals in 2012, did not participate in 2014 and lost in the round of 32 in 2016. Winning gold after an eight-year gap overwhelmed Mary.

“She gets emotional when our national anthem is played and this was happening after a long time,” her long-time confidant and coach, Chhote Lal Yadav, said. Mary Kom, a 35-year-old mother of three and a Rajya Sabha MP, became the most decorated amateur boxer with six World Championships gold. Mary has a silver too from the event, won in 2001. 

Her first gold came in 2002 in 45kg. The next three (2005, 2006, and 2008) were won in the 46kg division, and she won the 48kg title in 2010. She and Cuba’s Felix Savon are the only two in amateur boxing to have won six gold medals in the World Championships.