PARIS-. The Algerian female boxer Imane Khelif claimed the Olympic gold medal on Friday, emerging as a champion after a tumultuous run at the Paris Games in which she dealt with uproar over misconceptions about her gender and scrutiny over her eligibility to compete.
Khelif defeated China’s Yang Liu 5-0 in the women’s welterweight final, capping the best run of fights of her career with a victory at Roland Garros, where a crowd chanted her name, waved Algerian flags and cheered her every time she landed a punch.
Following her unanimous decision win, Khelif leapt into the arms of her trainers, one of whom placed her on his shoulders and carried her around the arena in a victory lap. Meanwhile, the boxer pumped her fists in the air and grabbed a flag of her country, which someone handed her.
“This has been my dream for eight years, and now I am an Olympic champion and gold medalist,” Khelif said.
The public in the French capital has been very supportive of Khelif, even amid a backlash that has included world leaders, celebrities and social media users questioning Khelif’s eligibility for the women’s race or even falsely claiming she is a man.
“All of this also gives my success a special flavor, after so many attacks,” the fighter commented.
The Algerian has been drawn into a global polarisation over gender identity and safety regulations in sport.
Comments against Khelif have included former US President Donald Trump and “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling.
“We are at the Olympics to perform as athletes, and I hope we will not see similar attacks in future Olympics,” Khelif said.
Interviewed by SNTV, a sports visual content partner of The Associated Press, Khelif said last weekend that the wave of hateful questioning she has faced over misconceptions about her gender “harms human dignity.” She also said a gold medal would be the “best response” to the backlash against her.
The debate at the Games came 16 months after Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were disqualified and denied medals at the 2023 world championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA), a body dominated by Russia.
The IBA, which has been locked in a bitter feud with the IOC for years, said neither boxer had passed a shady eligibility test for women’s competitions. At Paris 2024, boxing is regulated by a group appointed by the IOC, with eligibility rules approved in 2016 that are somewhat outdated compared with those governing other Olympic sports.
Lin will fight for gold on Saturday against Poland’s Julia Szeremeta.
