MC Mary Kom, the first Indian woman boxer to win an Olympic medal, was on Tuesday morning accorded a rousing reception on arrival at the IGI Airport in New Delhi, close on the heels of a warm welcome for wrestling stars Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt.

Mary Kom flew in from London with the entire boxing contingent, including the men’s team which could not win a single medal at the Summer Games.

“It is very special to win an Olympic medal. The road to it was a tough one. I am overwhelmed with the support that I have got. I am excited and scared as well with the huge amount of people here. Everyone knows me now. I might not look like an Indian but I surely feel like one,” an emotional Mary Kom told reporters about her bronze winning feat in the London Olympics.

The 29-year-old Manipuri was accompanied by her husband Onler Kom and mother Akham Kom.

Sushil and Yogeshwar returned home late Monday night to a hero’s welcome as hordes of supporters, including young Sushil and Yogeshwar returned home late Monday night to a hero’s welcome as hordes of supporters, including young grapplers from nearby akhadas, turned up at the airport.

As soon as the duo walked out of the arrival lounge, celebrations broke out with drums beating and fireworks ligh

Sushil and Yogeshwar were surprised to see their life-size cut-outs, and within moments they were carried on the shoulders of their supporters.

With garlands around their neck, Sushil and Yogeshwar were dazed with the grand reception.

Shouts of “Sushil, Yogeshwar ki jay” reverberated in the air.

The duo were taken on a well-decorated open truck to the Palam temple.

Rapplers from nearby akhadas, turned up at the airport.

Even before the flight from London landed, a huge crowd had gathered at the arrival terminus, reminiscent of scenes four years ago when Sushil arrived from Beijing with a bronze medal.

But this time, exploits of Sushil and Yogeshwar in London called for special celebrations.

Sushil, who won the silver, became India’s only individual back-to-back Olympic medallist while his friend of 15 years, Yogeshwar, bagged a bronze.

It seemed as if the whole of Chattarsal and Baprola village, from where Sushil hails, was at the international airport to celebrate Indian wrestling’s success.

Sushil’s wife Savi, his father-in-law Satpal Singh, former Asian Games gold medallist, his coach Yashvir Singh, national coach Vinod Kumar and Raj Singh, general secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), also arrived with the champion duo.

Tribal Affairs Ministry honours Mary Kom with a Rs 10-lakh

The government must put in place a system that would spot and train sports talents at the grassroots so that India can perform to its potential best at international competitions like the Olympics, hon’ble Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri V Kishore Chandra Deo, said today.

“The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is very much into accomplishing this task. Steps in this direction are already on, and we are determined to chalk out more measures to reap in benefits for the country’s tribal communities and the sports people among them,” he told a function organised to facilitate boxer Mary Kom on her winning a medal at the just-concluded Olympics.

The ministry rewarded the Manipuri tribal sportswoman with Rs 10 lakh, within hours of her touchdown in the national capital from London.

Kom’s latest professional achievement -the 29-year-old won the bronze in the 51-kg flyweight category at the Games 2012 exemplifies the victory of individual efforts rather than that of an institutional set-up, the Minister noted.

“We have to alter this equation,”he added.

Of the six medals India won at the London Olympics, it is a tribal who has pocketed one, Deo pointed out.

“This can be a matter of major inspiration for our tribal fraternity,” he said.

“We have already declared her as the recipient of the Tribal Award for 2012.”

Kom, in her brief speech after receiving the purse from the minister, expressed joy that the whole nation stood behind her as she battled it out at London.

“My target was a gold medal; I’ll now try for that that at Rio (de Janeiro that is hosting the 2016 Olympics),” she said, amid cheers from the gathering.