New Delhi: Rubbishing reports that Olympic bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom could be barred from the trials for the Olympic qualifiers, Boxing India said the veteran is not under any compulsion to attend the national camp and has been granted permission to train individually.
Mary Kom, a five-time world champion, is currently training in Manipur at her own academy even as the rest gathered here for a national camp at the Indira Gandhi National Stadium.
Reports quoting Boxing India Secretary General Jay Kowli emerged today that Mary Kom would be barred from the trials for the qualifiers for next year's Olympics if she did not report to the camp.
However, Kowli said he made no such statement.
"I did not make any such statement about Mary being stopped from giving trials. I said that she would have to appear for trials. As far as training is concerned, top boxers have always been allowed to train on their own. She can train wherever she is comfortable but she has to appear for trials. That's all I said," Kowli told PTI clarifying his stand.
"I am not against Mary Kom. She has trained on her own in the past as well and nobody has a problem with that but when the trials happen, she would have to appear like others. This point of mine has been misreported," he added.
Mary Kom, who is also recuperating from a wrist injury, too was shocked by the reports and said, "It's not the first time that I am training on my own. I have done it in the past and I have always come for the trials. I don't think there is any rule which can stop me from giving trials."
Even in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics, the Asian Games gold-medallist had trained individually at the Army Sports Institute in Pune.
"Top athletes are always given exemption to train on their own as they can't be made to stress about national camps ahead of big events," BI spokesperson Neetal Narang said.
