Mary Kom flew to Pennsylvania, USA to compete under 48 kg World Womens’s Boxing Championship in 2001. On landing, she rushed to the sports arena and weighed. She was lucky as she could rest enough to face her opponent the following day. As soon as she won her opponent in the first match, she gained enormous confidence. Her fear of facing new opponents in the ring vanished completely. While her team-mates went on losing one after another, she went on to reach the finals. She was even hopeful of winning gold. She had defeated Nadia Hokmi of Poland by RSC.
She also defeated Jamie Behai of Canada by 219. The greatest disadvantage just before finals was that she lost her appetite. She was not accustomed to American food. However hard she tried, she could not eat. She lost her weight. She was just 46 kg before the finals. This cost her, her long cherished dream of gold medal and she lost to Hula Sahin of Turkey 13-5. She won her silver but was very sad. But the biggest thing she took home from Pennsylvania was not the medal but the conviction that she could take on any boxer in the world.
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”
