Indians tell Mary Kom she's a legend despite Tokyo Olympics exit, Kiren Rijiju agrees

In a heartbreaking development for Mary Kom fans, the boxing icon on Thursday was knocked out of the Tokyo Olympics after a loss in the women’s 51kg round of 16 matches. MC Mary Kom's pursuit of a second Olympic medal ended in the pre-quarterfinals of the Tokyo Games as she went down to 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Ingrit Valencia in a fiercely-fought showdown. This was Mary Kom's last Olympics. After losing to Ingrit Valencia, Mary Kom broke into tears, however, she also congratulated her counterpart on her thrilling victory.

Seeing Mary Kom's last moment of the Olympics and her graceful exit, netizens expressed their support for being India's flag-bearer from past so many years. Even former Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju expressed his support to the boxer with a heartwarming note. 

Kiren Rijiju on Mary Kom's defeat at Tokyo Olympics

Kiren Rijiju took to his Twitter handle and shared a series of photos in which he can be seen with Mary Kom. Rijiju in his post called Mary Kom a champion boxer who is indeed is India's legend. Lauding Mary Kom, Rijiju also wrote that the boxer was only defeated by one point and India is proud of her. See Kiren Rijiju's heartwarming post here-

Netizens react to Mary Kom's defeat

MC Mary Kom vs Ingrit Valencia Highlights

Mary Kom had tears in her eyes and a wide smile on her face when the referee raised Valencia's hand at the end of the bout after the intense clash.

The way Valencia rushed in when the first bell rang, it was quite obvious that the bout would be high voltage and it was exactly how it turned out to be.

The two were attacking each other from word go and Valencia grabbed the upper hand when she clinched the opening round 4-1.

The Manipuri veteran fought back to claim the second and the third round by 2-3 margins but the slight edge that Valencia took in the opening round tilted the final scores in her favour. The Indian landed her right hooks to perfection in both the second and the third round.  

Mary Kom had earlier beaten Valencia in the 2019 World Championship quarterfinals and it was the Colombian's first career win over the icon. 

Like Mary Kom, the 32-year-old Valencia is a trailblazer for her country. She is the first female boxer to have represented Colombia at the Olympic Games, as well as the nation's first female boxer to win an Olympic medal. 

(Image Credits: AP/@KirenRijiju/Twitter/AP)

(With Inputs: PTI)