MC(Mangte Chungneijang) Mary Kom is nominated for PEPSI MTV YOUTH ICON
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MC (Mangte Chungneijang) Mary Kom (Read e-pao's profile here ) is nominated for PEPSI MTV YOUTH ICON
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Name: MC Marykom

Claim to fame:
A young girl from a tribal community Manipur became the first woman boxer to win the world title three years in a row after the championships were introduced in the US in 2001. She has been honored by our country with the Padma Shri (206) and Arjuna Award (2004).

Despite dominating the boxing ring for years, Mary Kom sometimes feels that there are not many takers for her achievements. This World Champion lives in a small village on the outskirts of Imphal. She has battled poverty and lack of proper infrastructure to become a world-class boxer. When she was in school, her teachers recognized the drive and aggression in young Mary who then was an athlete.

She took up athletics professionally in 1999. When she saw other girls training in boxing, she developed interest in the game and started training in it simultaneously. She went on to become a State champion and then a National champion. After that there was no looking back for Mary Kom.

Her father, still unaware of her newfound interest, reproached her after seeing her picture in the newspaper. He perceived the game to be very violent. He eventually came around but it took a while before her community actually acknowledged and appreciated the work she was doing. Only after she won the World Champion did she finally break some myths about women in the ring. Now there's an academy named after her in Manipur. She teaches kids boxing when she's back home after her camps and matches.

A thorough patriot that she is, Mary broke into tears when she heard the Indian national anthem playing at her first World Championship. For a small village girl, boxing opened doors to several opportunities like foreign travel.

She has traveled to several countries for her matches and now hopes that women's boxing is included in the Olympics. It's her dream to win the gold medal in Olympics. For now Mary Kom continues to be casted into the oblivion and over shadowed by players from more popular sports like Cricket and Tennis.