Algerian boxer Imane Khelif defied a major gender controversy to win gold at the Paris Olympics on Friday in front of a pulsating Roland Garros crowd that roared her to victory.
Khelif claimed a unanimous points decision win over China’s Yang Liu in the women’s 66kg final and was paraded around the arena on a team member’s shoulders.
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who together with Khelif was disqualified from last year’s world championships after failing gender eligibility testing, fights in the women’s 57kg final on Saturday.
“I’m very happy. For eight years this has been my dream and I’m now the Olympic champion and gold medallist,” said Khelif, 25. “I’ve worked for eight years, no sleep, eight years tired. Now I’m Olympic champion.”
Khelif is the first Algerian woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal as well as the first Algerian boxer to win gold since Hocine Soltani at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were caught up in a storm that has dominated headlines and been the subject of heated debate on social media platforms.
Both were disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the 2023 World Championships, which said a sex chromosome test had ruled both of them ineligible.
They are competing in the Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped the IBA of its status as the sport’s governing body in 2023 and took control of organising boxing in Paris.
At these Games, the IOC is using boxing eligibility rules that were applied at the 2016 and 2021 Olympics which do not include gender testing.
There were large numbers of Algerian fans at the 15,000-seat Court Philippe Chatrier, usually home to Grand Slam tennis but instead there to witness one of the most controversial athletes at the Games.
Standing 1.79 metres (5ft 9in), Khelif had enjoyed a height and strength advantage over the three opponents she comfortably dismantled on her way to the final.
Yang was a different proposition, the 32-year-old being nearly as tall and having pedigree as a world champion.
Loud cheers went up when Khelif entered the arena, shadow-boxing her way towards the ring as chants of “Imane, Imane” rang out.
Khelif dictated most of the first round from the centre of the ring and unloaded a flurry of punches on Yang two-thirds of the way through to take the early initiative.
The second round started in the same way, with Khelif’s punches appearing to carry more snap, power and menace. The Algerian was ahead on all the judges’ scorecards heading into the third and final round, and she just needed to avoid serious trouble to claim gold.
The two embraced at the bell, and after Khelif’s comprehensive victory was confirmed, she did a jig in the centre of the ring and thumped her chest.
“I want to thank all the people who have come to support me,” said Khelif, after winning her country’s second gold in Paris.
“All the people from Algeria and all the people at my base. I want to thank all the team, my coach. Thank you so much.”
Win has ‘special taste’ after dispute
Victory at the Paris Olympics has “a special taste”, said Khelif after winning the boxing gold.
“I am a woman like any woman,” Khelif told a news conference after her gold medal. “I was born a woman and I have lived as a woman but there are enemies to success and they can’t digest my success. That also gives my success a special taste.”
The IOC rejected the results of the IBA-ordered tests on Khelif and Lin as arbitrary and illegitimate, saying there was no reason to conduct them. Khelif, a silver medallist at the 2022 Worlds, said she did not understand the IBA’s actions.
“All that is being said about me on social media is immoral. I want to change the minds of people around the world,” Khelif added. “From 2018, I competed under the authority of the IBA and they know everything about me. I don’t recognise this IBA. Some of the members hate me and I don’t know why.
“I sent them a message today that my honour is above everything.”
The 25-year-old has had immense support from the crowds at her fights, with Algerian fans, many of whom are women, flocking to Roland Garros and the North Paris Arena to cheer her on.
“The Algerian woman is known for her courage,” Khelif said. “The coming of these women to the stadium sent a message to the world that our honour is above everything.”
