Who is Nikhat Zareen? Career, achievements and more as Indian boxer set for Olympic debut at Paris 2024

The Paris Olympics 2024 is only a few weeks away and the 28-year-old Indian boxer, Nikhat Zareen is one of the favourites to bring back a medal for the country at the world event.

In this article, The Sporting News looks at the Indian boxer's career, her achievements and more importantly, her path to debut at the Paris Olympics 2024.

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Who is Nikhat Zareen?

Born on June 14, 1996, in Nizamabad, Telangana, (then Andhra Pradesh), Nikhat Zareen's rise from a modest, conservative family to representing India at the Olympic Games, and the struggles in between, is a story that deserves to be told.

Nikhat was raised in an orthodox Muslim family and has three sisters. She completed her primary education from the Nirmala Hrudaya Girls High School in Nizamabad, followed by a Bachelor of Arts degree at AV College in Hyderabad. Later, she was appointed as the staff officer in the Bank of India zonal office at AC Guards, Hyderabad in June 2021.

She was introduced to the world of sports by her father, Mohammad Jameel Ahmad. She initially took up running but transitioned to boxing when she challenged the status quo of then a boys-dominated sport of boxing. 

After training at a local, male-dominated gym, she joined the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Visakhapatnam, developing her skills under the watch of Dronacharya awardee IV Rao.

"Sometimes I feel like I didn’t choose boxing, boxing chose me. Before boxing, I was into athletics. So, when I was going for a training session, the Urban Games were going on in Nizamabad district. I saw girls in every sport, except boxing. When I asked my father whether there was a rule that disallowed girls from boxing, he said girls can box, but our society thinks that girls are not strong enough to pursue it. So, I decided to take up boxing in 2009. I was the first girl to do so in Nizamabad. I ended up taking a lot of punches from the boys, but I never gave up," she had said in an interview to the Cosmopolitan.

Nikhat Zareen - Early career

After winning the sub-junior national title in 2009 and gold medal at the AIBA Women's Youth and Junior World Boxing Championships in 2011, in Turkey, it was clear that with her talent, she was destined for a big career in boxing.

Three years later, she would go on a win a silver at the same Youth World Boxing Championships event, held in Bulgaria, in 2014. In the same year, Nikhat won her first senior international medal, when she won gold, at the 2014 Nations Cup International Boxing tournament in Serbia.

In the following year, in 2015, she became the national boxing champion after clinching gold at the 16th Senior Woman National Boxing Championship, held in Assam.

How did Nikhat Zareen script a comeback from injury?

However, in 2017, her career came to a halt after she suffered a dislocated shoulder, which she termed as the "most difficult phase" of her boxing career.

"The most difficult phase was my injury back in 2017. I wasn’t prepared for it, because I’ve never had any serious injury in my life. My shoulder was dislocated. The doctor said that I either had to undergo surgery or stop boxing altogether. I had just entered the senior level. I couldn’t just stop. I had so many dreams. It broke me physically and mentally. I would cry every day - I didn’t know why this was happening to me. But everyone around me was really supportive," she said.

After sitting out, recovering from injury for a year, she made a stunning return in 2018, by winning the silver medal at the Belgarde International Championship, after which she received a brand endorsement deal from Adidas. 

"I used to talk to my psychologist who made me believe that it was happening for a reason. I had to learn something from this. I realised that while I was physically strong, I was not mentally strong. So, maybe God wanted me to come back mentally stronger. I was out for a whole year. But since I came back from injury, I never looked back. I just kept going," Nikhat added

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Nikhat Zareen vs MC Mary Kom

Despite early promise, Nikhat has had to wait for her turn at the big stage since she competed in the same weight category as Indian boxing icon MC mary Kom.

In 2019, she was at loggerheads with Mary Kom over an Olympics berth. She challenged the Boxing Federation of India's decision to send Mary Kom to the Asian qualifiers in Jordan, as the veteran sought a direct qualification to the Tokyo Olympics without any trial.

It was characteristic of Nikhat that she not only questioned the authority of the six-time world champion, Mary Kom but also sought a "fair chance" through a bout with her "idol", for qualifications to the 2020 Olympics.

While her request was granted, she ended up losing the bout by a 1-9 margin and failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Infamously at the end of the match, Mary Kom refused to shake hands with then 23-year-old youngster, which left Nikhat in tears. 

Earlier, when the six-time world champion, Mary Kom, was challenged by Nikhat for a bout, she undermined the request by asking, "Who is Nikhat Zareen?"

Nikhat Zareen - Road to Paris

However, as Mary Kom faded away with age, Nikhat stepped into the spotlight.

In 2022, she won the Women's boxing world championships in Istanbul, beating Thailand's Jutamas Jitfong for the gold medal, and in the process became a world champion - only the fifth boxer from India to do so, after Mary Kom, Laishram Sarita Devi, Jenny RL and Lekha RC.

She made her Commonwealth Games debut in the same year in 2022 and won gold at Birmingham, which she called it " one of the best moments of her life".

"There have been so many. One of them was when I won gold for India at the Commonwealth Games. I had dedicated that medal to my mother. After the Games when we met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he spoke to me about that. That for me was a surprise—one of those times where you feel this is the best moment of your life," she said after winning gold at the CWG in 2022.

In the following year, in 2023, Nikhat successfully defended her world championship title in New Delhi, establishing her dominance in the flyweight boxing division. She is only the second Indian boxer to win gold at world champions more than once - the first ever to do so was Mary Kom.

In the same year, she also made her debut at the Asian Games and secured a bronze at Hangzhou. This also helped her to secure a spot at the Paris Olympics 2024, where she will be expected to take over from the legendary Mary Kom, as India's next flag-bearer for boxing.

Wrapping up the Strandja Memorial Cup 2024 journey with a silver medal🥈, it was indeed an incredible experience. Undoubtedly, it will propel me towards my preparatory objectives.☝️

The journey to Paris has already commenced. Next, we’ll make a planned pit stop at the Montenegro… pic.twitter.com/v2XaBRABdo

— Nikhat Zareen (@nikhat_zareen) February 12, 2024

"Olympics is my ultimate goal but to achieve success there I will have to put in a lot of hard work because I know how big a competition Olympics is. I have to give double the effort I have done till now. Now there is more responsibility on me," Nikhat said at a function organised jointly by the Sports Authority of India and national federation (BFI).

List of Achievements of Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen

Here is a list of medals won by Indian boxer, Nikhat Zareen in her career so far:

Nikhat Zareen was also awarded the Arjuna Award in the year 2022.

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