Tokyo Olympics Countdown: Meet the athletes – MC Mary Kom and Vikas Krishan | Tokyo Olympics News – Times of India

In our countdown to the Tokyo Olympics, we are regularly profiling some of the biggest Indian medal contenders. Today we feature two veteran boxers – MC Mary Kom and Vikas Krishan.
MARY KOM (Boxing)
Date of Birth: November 24, 1982
Age: 38
Birth Place: Manipur
Sport/Event(s): Boxing (Flyweight – 51kg)
World ranking: 3rd
Major achievements:
– 2012 London Olympics bronze medal
– World Championships – A record six gold medals (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2018), a silver (2001) and a bronze (2019)
– Asian Games – Gold (2014), bronze (2010)
– Commonwealth Games – Gold (2018)
– Asian Championships – A record five gold medals (2003, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2017) and a silver (2008)
‘Magnificent Mary’ needs no introduction. She is a true pioneer and a role model for female athletes in India, winning the first of her record eight World Championships medals (six gold, 1 silver & 1 bronze) 20 years ago in 2001.
In her more than two decade long career, Mary Kom has created numerous records and paved a path for a whole generation of boxers to follow. Mary, a six-time world champion, is also the first and till date only Indian female boxer to win an Olympic medal. She won a bronze at the 2012 London Games.

She boasts gold medals from almost every major tournament, except the Olympics so far – World Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Championships.
At the Asian Championships in Doha recently, Mary Kom lost in the final of the 51kg category to two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay, to settle for a silver medal.
She had a bout of dengue, post which she has been working to perfect her technique and increase her strength and stamina.
At 38, the Tokyo Games will be the legend’s last Olympics hurrah and she will be aiming to bid adieu by winning that elusive Olympic gold.
India has won two Olympic medals in boxing so far — a bronze each for Vijender Singh (2008 in Beijing) & Mary Kom (2012 in London). Mary is one of India’s big medal contenders at the Games this time.

VIKAS KRISHAN (Boxing)
Date of Birth: February 10, 1992
Age: 29
Birth Place: Hisar, Haryana
Sport/Event(s): Boxing (Welterweight – 69kg)
Major achievements:
– World Championships – Bronze (2011)
– Asian Games – Gold (2010), bronze (2014, 2018)
– Commonwealth Games – Gold (2018)
– Asian Championships – Silver (2015), bronze (2017)

Vikas Krishan is a veteran fighter with a more-than-10-year elite boxing career. As a teenager he found the limelight in 2010, winning Junior World Championships gold and a bronze at the Youth Olympics before clinching a senior-level gold at the Asian Games.
He added a bronze at the senior World Championships in 2011, and represented India at the Olympics for the first time in London in 2012.
Tokyo will be Vikas’s third Summer Games, making him only the second Indian male boxer to qualify for three Olympics after Vijender Singh. Vikas will be looking to better his 2016 Rio Games performance of reaching the quarter-final and finally clinch that elusive Olympic medal.
The two things VIkas has said he wants to work on the most are his defence and endurance. His aim is to stay on top of his opponents through the three rounds and not give away points.