MC Mary Kom’s achievement may be unparalleled — four golds and a silver medal in five World Championships — but the Manipuri has no retirement plans yet. In fact, if anything, her unprecedented fourth gold at Ningbo City recently has only made her hungry for more.

She is hopeful of the International Olympic Committee including women’s boxing as a part of the London Olympics in 2012 and has set her sights on winning there, but in the near future, her targets include winning at the Asian Games 2010 in Guangzhou. “After an Olympic gold, I may think about hanging up my gloves,” said Mary Kom on her return to the Capital from China in the wee hours of Monday.

“(But) right now I want to get back to the ring and train hard for the Asian Games. My concentration would be on a gold medal in Guangzhou,” added the determined pugilist.

With her brilliant showing at the World Championships, Mary Kom was also in line for winning the ‘Best Boxer’ award, with a majority of the jury members backing her, but lost out to Ireland’s KK Taylor because of a few split votes, according to national coach Anoop Kumar.

Awards disappointment

But that loss does not rankle Mary Kom as much as the fact that, despite her achievements and an enviable performance record at the international level, India’s only women’s boxing champion has not yet been considered for the Khel Ratna. “I don’t know what else I have to do to convince people that I am worthy to get the award,” she said, her disappointment evident.

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