Well, one of them you already know –her full name, Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (bet you don’t know how it’s pronounced though ;)). Jokes apart, Mary Kom is an inspirational figure about whom a lot has already been known. She even has a movie made on her. But if you think the movie tells all about her that you must know, you are wrong.

Mary-kom-letsdiskuss

There is a lot of inspiring facts about Mary Kom that are kept hidden since long. Let’s try to unveil some of them.

We already know that she is included in the Forbes list of top 100 celebrities in India, we know that she comes from a very insignificant and small village of Manipur, and we know that she struggled a lot to make her way up to the Olympics. Here’s what we don’t know:

1. The boxing legend was so passionate about her sport, that she couldn’t even pass her high school because of her rising ambition. Later she studied through alternative means and got a graduation degree as well.

2. She is the only women boxer in the world who has won the World Amateur Boxing Champion title six times.

3. It was when Dingko Singh from Manipur won the Gold at Asian Games in 1998 that Mary Kom got inspired and took up boxing as a sport despite very less Indian girls taking it up.

4. She won a silver medal in her very first tournament and surprised everybody.

5. Her coach, Charles Atkinson was denied the entry in the Olympics Village because he did not have a 3 star IBA accreditation. Mary Kom had to deal with all the pressure and nervousness all alone.

6. Mary Kom is the only person in the history of sports to have got her nickname form a recognized sports association. The International Amateur Boxing Association gave her the name “Magnificent Mary”.

7. Despite being an ex-wrestler, Mary Kom’s father could not understand her love for boxing and was always concerned about her looks.

8. She is also an animal right activist and a PETA supporter.

9. She runs an academy, known as Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation in Manipur.

10. Her autobiography is named perfectly after her spirit, Unbreakable.