Eternal champion Mary Kom not tied to Olympic Gold
Mary Kom loses bout but wins hearts at Tokyo
As heartbreaks come, Mary Kom’s exit from Tokyo Olympics without a medal is as big as it can get. More so, as the legendary pugilist was in a winning bout against her Colombian opponent which went wrong in the final game.
It was not a clean defeat and eyebrows are yet to come down on the decisions taken. But that does not take away from the fact that Mary Kom’s one and only dream in the autumn of her career – that of lifting one, just one, Olympic Gold Medal, will continue to be a dream – an impossible one now.
The lady with the heaviest punch but the pithiest body in the business is now 38 years old and by the time the next Olympics come by, she would have crossed the age of entry. No boxer can get into the Olympics box if she is above 40 years old, and Mary Kom will be 42.
It can’t be counted as anything but cruel destiny that the getter of 8 World Boxing Gold medals and a reigning queen in this relatively new sport, could not get an Olympic Gold. It is not so much to do with her waning skills or her age or her ill-preparedness – all that does not apply to this master achiever who was in the sport when not many even knew about it.
It is also the cruel lack of public interest that assailed a chunk of Mary Kom’s boxing career and when she was winning the Golds (14 of them in total) with the regularity of cricketing failures in India, none put together the hands to applaud the yeomen effort made by a struggling Manipuri girl who beat all odds to bloom on the global stage.
The auto spare-parts, the logs, the mom-made punching bags were all she had to train with in her village, as opposed to the hi-tech sporting equipment that her compatriots came in with. Yet, there was never much competition they could ever give her. That’s Mary Kom for you, a living legend and an over the top inspirational sports star.
At Tokyo where she won two rounds out of three and yet lost, she did her best. What is agonising that her best could have been good enough but the judge awarded that one point which could have gone either way, to her opponent. A gracious Mary, though broken to the core, raised her opponent’s hand in victory herself before walking off the arena that had enticed her all through but never rewarded her with what she deserved or fought for – a Gold.
But our Magnificent Mary is no quitter, she says she will be back after recuperating from this loss with her family. So what if Big Games are out of contention. Fortunately the globe has other grand stages too.
The petite Mary Kom had to compete in the 51 kg category in the Olympics as her natural 48 kg category was missing. Back in 2012, in London, she would struggle to somehow get to 51 kg on the scale for every match. “I have been eating like never before to somehow gain weight. I wear heavy layer of clothing. But I have to struggle to make it to 51 kg,” she said in one of the interactions with me back then.
Another matter altogether that she was all smiles about everything that did not go her way then. “Struggle kiya hai, struggle karengey,” she said, waving a punch in the air.
Indeed, Mary Kom, indeed! Your achievements cannot be held to ransom by a missing Olympic Gold. You have enough metal on your mantlepiece and in yourself to be the eternal champion you are.