Mary Kom reacts after Tokyo Olympics defeat: Thought I won bout, was shocked when I got to know I had lost
Six-time world champion Mary Kom expressed disbelief at the result of her quarter-final bout against Rio 2016 bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia which ended her quest to win a second Olympic medal.
In Short
- Mary said that she realised she had lost only after seeing Kiren Rijiu's tweet
- The 38-year-old said that she can't protest the decision as it is not allowed in the Olympics
- Mary was looking to win her second Olympic medal, having won bronze at London 2012
MC Mary Kom expressed her disbelief at the result of her quarter-final bout against Colombian Rio 2016 bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia at the Tokyo Olympics. Mary's bid for a second Olympic medal ended on Thursday after she was declared the loser in a 3-2 decision in the quarter-final bout.
"When I entered the doping centre to give my sample after the fight, even then I couldn't believe that I lost. My coach was trying to tell me that I won, but what does that mean I'm not able to understand," Mary told India Today.
Mary could be seen smiling and raising her hands after the judges' decision was announced. The 38-year-old six-time world champion said that she realised she had lost only after seeing former sports minister Kiren Rijiju's tweet about her bout.
"I thought I was winning the fight. Then I saw Kiren Rijiju's tweet on social media about my defeat, I was shocked and upset after that. I don't know what to say, I can't believe a decision like this was made," she said.
"I can't even protest because we were told that's not allowed in this Olympics. Things like these have happened to me in the past as well in other competitions. It's not the case with this Olympics alone. A similar thing happened with me in the last boxing world championships also," she said.
Mary went on to say that the Tokyo Olympics was "very badly organised".
"This was the worst Olympics for me, very badly organised. A lot of different emotions are going on within me," she said.
Mary did not have the best of starts to the match on Thursday as Ingrit went on the offensive from the word go. The 32-year-old pushed Mary on the back foot early, taking the first round 4-1.
But Mary stormed back by playing it smart in the second round, landing the scoring punches at will and swaying away from moves from her opponent. She took the 2nd round 3-2.
However, in the third round of what was a high-quality boxing bout, Mary looked visibly tired. She went for the kill but it was not enough for the legendary Indian.