Indian boxing great Mary Kom seemed to have dropped a bomb on the sporting spectrum as she spoke about retirement because of the ‘age limit’ at an event on Wednesday. Mary, one of India’s most popular sportspersons, highlighted how age limit prevents her from participating in most events. However, the interpretation of her talk at the event, turned out to be exaggerated. In a chat with NDTV, Mary confirmed that she hasn’t yet retired but is planning to. “I was misquoted, I am on the brink of taking retirement but haven’t retired yet,” the iconic boxer confirmed.
In a statement on Thursday, Mary further confirmed that she hasn’t retired.
She said: “Dear Friends from media, I haven’t announced retirement yet and I have been misquoted. I will personally come in front of media whenever I want to announce it. I have gone through some media reports stating that I have announced retirement and this is not true.
I was attending a school in event in Dibrugarh on 24 January 2024 wherein I was motivating children and I said “I still have hunger of achieving in sports but age limit in Olympics doesn’t allow me to participate though i can carry on with my sport. I am still focusing on my fitness and whenever I will announce retirement I will inform everyone.”
Earlier, on Wednesday, Mary was quoted as saying in an event: “I have the hunger still but unfortunately because of the age limit it is over I cannot compete in any competition. I want to play more but I am being forced to quit (due to the age limit). I have to retire. I have achieved everything in my life.”
Mary is the first female boxer in boxing history to have captured six world titles. The five-time Asian champion was the first female boxer from India to take home a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games.
The experienced pugilist won a bronze medal in the London 2012 Olympic Games leaving any record or title untouched from her reach. She introduced herself to the world at the age of 18 in the inaugural world meet in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
With her near-flawless boxing style, she impressed everyone and made it to the final of the 48kg category. She fell short in the final but left a mark of the success that she was going to achieve in the future.
In the coming years, she went on to become the first Indian to win a gold medal at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. She went on to clinch the World Championships titles in 2005, 2006, 2008 and the 2010 editions. After winning the 2008 title, Mary went on a break after giving birth to her twins.
After winning the 2012 Olympic medal, Mary once again went on a break after giving birth to her third child. She marked her return but sealed her place at the summit in the 2018 World Championships which was held in Delhi.
She dominated with a 5-0 win over Ukraine’s Hanna Okhota for her sixth world title. A year later, she went on to clinch her eighth world medal, the most by any male or female boxer.
With ANI inputs
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