Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has won a gold medal Friday at the Paris Olympics, emerging as a champion from a tumultuous run at the Games where she endured intense scrutiny in the ring and online abuse from around the world over misconceptions about her womanhood.
Khelif beat Yang Liu of China 5:0 in the final of the women鈥檚 welterweight division, wrapping up the best series of fights of her boxing career with a victory at Roland Garros.
Cheering crowds embraced Khelif in Paris 鈥 draping themselves in Algerian flags and chanting her name 鈥 even as she faced an extraordinary amount of scrutiny from world leaders, major celebrities and others who have questioned her eligibility or falsely claimed she was a man. It has thrust her into a larger divide over changing attitudes toward gender identity and regulations in sports.
Khelif told SNTV, a sports video partner of The Associated Press, last weekend that the wave of hateful scrutiny she has received 鈥渉arms human dignity,鈥 and she called for an end to bullying athletes. She also said a gold medal would be 鈥渢he best response鈥 to the backlash against her.
It stems from the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association鈥檚 decision to disqualify Khelif and fellow two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan from last year鈥檚 world championships, claiming both failed a murky eligibility test for women鈥檚 competition.
The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step last year of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics following years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. The IOC has called the arbitrary sex tests that the sport鈥檚 governing body imposed on the two boxers irretrievably flawed.
The IOC has repeatedly reaffirmed the two boxers鈥 right to compete in Paris, with President Thomas Bach personally defending Khelif and Lin while calling the criticism 鈥渉ate speech.鈥
鈥淲e have two boxers who are born as women, who have been raised as women, who have a passport as a woman and have competed for many years as women,鈥 Bach said.
That hasn鈥檛 stopped the international outcry tied to misconceptions around the fighters that has been amplified by Russian disinformation networks. It also hasn鈥檛 slowed two boxers who have performed at the highest levels of their careers while under the spotlight鈥檚 glare.
Khelif鈥檚 gold medal is Algeria鈥檚 first in women鈥檚 boxing. She is only the nation鈥檚 second boxing gold medalist, joining Hocine Soltani (1996).
Hundreds of flag-clad, noise-making supporters of Khelif crowded the paths through the famed Roland Garros tennis complex in Paris and packed the stands, chanting, cheering and waving Algerian flags. Khelif also has become a hero across her North African country where many fans have seen the world鈥檚 dissection of Khelif as criticism of their nation.
Khelif鈥檚 fight was dubbed 鈥淭he Night of Destiny鈥 in local newspapers. Projection screens to watch the bout were set up in public squares throughout Algiers and other cities. In the city of Tiaret in the region where Khelif is from, workers braved scorching summer heat to paint a mural of Khelif on the gym where she learned to box.
鈥淚mane has managed to turn the criticism and attacks on her femininity into fuel,鈥 said Mustapha Bensaou of the Tiaret gym. 鈥淭he slander has given her a boost. ... It鈥檚 a bit of a blessing in disguise.鈥
The gold medal fight is the culmination of Khelif鈥檚 nine-day run through an Olympic tournament that began with a bizarre event. Khelif鈥檚 first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, abandoned their bout after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khelif鈥檚 punches.
Algeria's Imane Khelif, right, defeated, Italy's Angela Carini in their women's 66kg preliminary boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
An already brewing story suddenly became major international news, with the likes of former U.S. President Donald Trump and 鈥淗arry Potter鈥 author J.K. Rowling weighing in with criticism and false speculation about men competing with women in sports. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni personally visited with Carini to share her condolences and to cast doubt on Khelif鈥檚 eligibility.
Carini later said she regretted her actions and wished to apologize to Khelif. The Italian newspaper La Stampa detailed Carini鈥檚 mindset in the days leading up to the bout, describing pressure from both inside and outside her team to avoid the fight amid the growing speculation over Khelif鈥檚 status.
Khelif has never done as well in another international tournament as she did in these Olympics. When she was cast as some sort of unstoppable punching machine last week by pundits and provocateurs who had never seen her fight before, opponents and teammates who know her were shocked by the characterization.
Algeria's Imane Khelif prepares to fight China's Yang Liu in their women's 66 kg final boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Then she lived up to the notion of being one of the best Olympic boxers in the world.
The banished governing body for boxing did nothing to help its argument about her disqualification at the world championships last year during a shambolic news conference in which its leadership contradicted itself about the tests and declined to answer basic questions about them, citing privacy concerns from the Olympic committees of Algeria and Taiwan.
Lin also fights for a gold medal Saturday on the final card of the Olympics. She takes on Julia Szeremeta of Poland with a chance to win Taiwan鈥檚 first boxing gold.
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