Mary Kom: I’m blessed to have not been touched by Covid-19 yet

Despite six world championship golds and an Olympic bronze alongside a host of other medals from various international competitions therersquos something still missing in India star boxer MC Mary Komrsquos trophy cabinetmdashthe Olympic gold And she wants that badlyHowever the Covid19 situation has hampered her training given the absence of sparring partners and competitions until recently Worse still her sons Khupneivar 14 Rechungvar 14 and Prince eight caught the virus in April However things are starting to look brighter Her sons have recovered and are at home in Delhi while she is sweating it out in the national camp at Punersquos Army Sports Institute ASI ahead of the Asian Boxing Championship that gets underway in Dubai on May 24In an interview with midday on Monday Mary Kom 38 spoke about her burning desire for success at the Tokyo Games July 23August 8 and how the pandemic had her worried sickEdited excerpts from the interviewOn being back to training at the national campI was training at home initially after the Coronaviruscaused lockdown but for a sport like boxing you need to be in the ring and engage with sparring partners and that was missing all this while But now after joining the camp and completing the quarantine process I have started training hard here The facilities at ASI are very good In fact even during my quarantine period last week I was able to do my strength training as every room here has a personal gym and fitness area There are quite a few youth boys in my weight category and sparring with them has been helpful Irsquom looking forward to the Asian Championships in Dubai next week as it will be a good indicator of my preparations for the Tokyo OlympicsMary Kom with husband Onler daughter Merilyn to her left sons Khupneivar Rechungvar and PrinceOn managing home and fitness amidst Covid19 timesThese are unprecedented times and something no one ever expected But itrsquos very important how one responds to the situation and takes decisions to keep oneself safe despite the challenges Initially like everyone else my life was no different Juggling household work and looking after the kids while maintaining my training schedules is something I had to do daily I did it for over a year Irsquom grateful to my coach Chote Lal my support staff the Boxing Federation of India and the Sports Authority of India who have all been extremely helpful throughout these testing timesOn the uncertainty surrounding the Tokyo GamesThe Olympics is the biggest tournament in the world for any athlete And Irsquom sure that the Japanese government will decide whatever is best for the athletes and for the safety of everyone I just want to focus on my game and my preparations for the Olympics rather than thinking about whether it will happen or no The current pandemic is not in anyonersquos control so we can only hope that the situation permits the Olympics to be conducted safely It is my dream to win that elusive gold medal at the OlympicsOn dealing with the negativity of Covid19It is tough The impact and the loss is something that we all are going through Unfortunately my three sons tested positive for the virus last month It was an incredibly challenging time for everyone at home but thank God and Jesus that all my boys recovered and are safe at home Personally Irsquom blessed to have not been touched by the virus yet I just got my first dose of the vaccine in Pune for which I am thankful to the ASI officials Everyone needs to have a positive mindset be careful and mask up We will win this fight as we are in it together We athletes also struggle sometimes thinking about our families and friends but then we also know that we are here for a reason Our goal is the Olympics and we have to be focused on our training We cannot afford to have any distractions as there are only a couple of months left for the OlympicsAlso ReadNo match no problem for PV Sindhu