Boxing champion Mary Kom received the esteemed Global Indian Icon of the Year award at the prestigious UK-India Awards held in Windsor, located in south-eastern England.

In a memorable gala ceremony on Thursday night, the 40-year-old legendary athlete, who also served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, shared her remarkable 20-year journey filled with dedication and unwavering commitment to the sport of boxing.

She graciously accepted the award from the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, expressing her gratitude and reflecting on the tremendous sacrifices she has made in pursuit of her boxing career.

“I have been fighting for 20 years, putting in so much effort, hard work in my life, in boxing, it means a lot... making sacrifice for my country, for my family. I really thank from the bottom of my heart for this recognition,” she said.

The awards, now in their fifth year, recognise outstanding contributions of leaders in business, professional services, government, culture and social impact, highlighting their remarkable achievements in strengthening bilateral ties.

Spanning across several categories, the UK-India Award for Business Promotion Organisation of the Year was conferred upon the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) UK.

Among the other awards were Market Entrant of the Year for startup investment platform CrowdInvest, Consultancy of the Year for SannamS4, Legal Practice of the Year for Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Financial Services Organisation of the Year for ICICI Bank UK Plc. While Mphasis bagged the Technology Company of the Year, Action Aid UK was named as the Social Impact Project of the Year.

The awards were selected from a shortlist by a jury of industry experts and marked the penultimate event of the six-day UK-India Week, which included a special reception hosted by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street during which he committed to working towards a “truly ambitious” free trade agreement (FTA) with India.