PARIS: Algerian boxer Imane Khelief won gold at the Paris Olympics on Friday, emerging as 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 femininity.
In the final of the women's welterweight division, Khalif completed the best fight streak of her boxing career with a 5:0 win over China's Yang Liu at Roland Garros.
Jubilant crowds embraced the khalif in Paris — draping themselves in Algerian flags and chanting his name — even as he faced an extraordinary amount of scrutiny from world leaders, prominent celebrities and others who questioned his credentials or falsely claimed he was a man. It underscores the great divide in sports about changing attitudes toward gender identity and rules.
Khalif told The Associated Press' sports video partner SNTV last weekend that the spate of hateful scrutiny “damages human dignity” and she called for an end to bullying athletes. She also said that a gold medal would be the “best response” to the backlash against her.
It stems from the Russian-dominated International Boxing Federation's decision to disqualify Khalif and two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan from last year's world championships, claiming both failed an obscure qualification test for women's competition.
The International Olympic Committee last year took the unprecedented step of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics, citing concerns over its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency over the years. The IOC has called the arbitrary sex-testing of two boxers by the sport's governing body flawed.
The IOC has repeatedly affirmed the right of the two boxers to compete in Paris, with president Thomas Bach personally defending Khalif and Lin, calling the criticism “hateful speech”.
“We have two boxers who were born as women, who grew up as women, who have passports as women and have competed as women for many years,” Bach said.
That hasn't stopped international outrage linked to misperceptions surrounding the fighters, which have been perpetuated by Russian disinformation networks. That hasn't slowed down the two boxers who have performed at the highest levels of their careers under the glare of the spotlight.
Khalif's gold medal is Algeria's first gold medal in women's boxing. He is only the nation's second boxing gold medalist, joining Hossein Soltani (1996).
Hundreds of flag-waving, vociferous Khalif supporters lined the streets of Paris' famous Roland Garros tennis complex, waving Algerian flags, chanting, cheering and packing the stands. Khelif has also become a hero throughout his North African country where many fans have seen Khelif's disconnection of the world as a criticism of their nation.
Khalif's fight was dubbed “The Night of Destiny” in local newspapers. Projection screens were set up in public squares in Algiers and other cities to watch the bout. In the town of Tiaret, in the region where Khalif is based, workers braved the summer heat to paint a mural of Khalif at the gym where he learned to box.
“Imane has managed to turn criticism and attacks on her femininity into fuel,” said Mustafa Bensou of Tiaret Gym. “The condemnation has emboldened him. … It's a bit of a blessing in disguise.”
The gold medal fight is the culmination of Khalif's nine-day run through the Olympic competition that began with a bizarre incident. Khalif's first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, abandoned her bout after 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khalif's punches.
The already ongoing story suddenly became major international news, weighed down with criticism and false speculation about men competing with women in sports by former US President Donald Trump and “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni personally visited Carini to share her grief and cast doubt on the Khalif's competence.
Karini later said that she regretted her actions and wanted to apologize to Khalif. Italian newspaper La Stampa detailed Carini's mindset in the run-up to the game, describing pressure from inside and outside his squad to avoid a fight amid growing speculation over Khelief's position.
Khalif has never performed as well as she did at these Olympics at any other international competition. When he was cast as a kind of unstoppable punching machine last week by pundits and provocateurs who had never seen him fight before, opponents and teammates who knew him were shocked by the character.
She then lived up to the notion of being one of the best Olympic boxers in the world.
Boxing's exiled governing body did nothing to help its argument about his disqualification from last year's world championships at a shambolic news conference in which its leadership contradicted itself about the tests and refused to answer basic questions about them, citing Olympic privacy concerns. Algeria and Taiwan Committees.
Lin also fights for a gold medal Saturday on the final card of the Olympics. He has a chance to win Taiwan's first boxing gold with Poland's Julia Szeremeta.
