Boxing legend MC Mary Kom told reporters she thought she had won her bout against Columbia’s Ingrid Valencia on July 29 and only realised the results after Law Minister Kiren Rijiju’s tweet.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Mary Kom said she thought she won since she clinched two rounds – the second and third, of the quarterfinal match.
"I thought I have won but after some time I saw Kiren Rijiju's tweet, I was shocked and upset at the same time (to know that I have lost the match)," she said.
In his tweet, Rijiju called Kom the “clear winner”, but added that the Olympics judges had “their own calculations”.
"Dear Mary Kom, you lost in Tokyo Olympics by just one point but for me you are always a champion! You have achieved what no other female boxer in the world has ever achieved. You are a legend. India is proud of you. BOXING & OLYMPICS will miss you," (sic) he said.
Kom was defeated 3-2 in her flyweight (51 kg) pre-quarterfinal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by Columbian Ingrit Valencia at the Kokugikan Arena on July 29.
She also slammed the International Olympic Committee's Boxing Task Force for "poor judging", telling PTI, “I don't know and understand this decision, what's wrong with the Task Force? What's wrong with the IOC?”
The Task Force is conducting the boxing competition in Tokyo after the International Boxing Association (AIBA) was suspended by the IOC for alleged mis-governance and financial wrong doing.
The match outcome was a shocking upset and was likely the 38-year-old legend’s last Olympic appearance. Kom is a six-time world champion and holds a bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics. She is also a recipient of the Arjuna Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, and the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan.
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