PARIS: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Friday, emerging as champion from a tumultuous run at the Games that has seen intense scrutiny in the ring and online abuse from around the world over misconceptions about her femininity.
Khelif defeated Yang Liu of China 5-0 in the final of the women's welterweight division, capping the best fight streak of her boxing career with a win at Roland Garros.
Cheering crowds embraced Khelif in Paris — draping themselves in Algerian flags and chanting her name — even as she faced an extraordinary amount of scrutiny from world leaders, major celebrities and others who questioned her eligibility or falsely claimed to be male. This pushed her into a larger divide over changing attitudes towards gender identity and regulation in sports.
Khelif told SNTV, a sports video partner of The Associated Press, last weekend that the barrage of hateful scrutiny he received “damages human dignity” and called for an end to the bullying of athletes. She also said a gold medal would be the “best answer” to the backlash against her.
It stems from a decision by the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association to disqualify Khelif and fellow two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan from last year's world championships, claiming they both failed an eligibility test cloudy for the female competition.
The International Olympic Committee last year took the unprecedented step of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics after years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. The IOC called the arbitrary sex tests the sport's governing body imposed on the two boxers irreparably flawed.
The IOC has repeatedly reaffirmed the two boxers' right to compete in Paris, with president Thomas Bach personally defending Khelif and Lin as he called the criticism “hate speech”.
“We have two boxers who were born as women, who were raised as women, who have a passport as a woman and have competed for many years as women,” Bach said.
That hasn't stopped the international outcry over misconceptions about the fighters, which has been amplified by Russian disinformation networks. It also didn't slow down two boxers who performed at the highest levels of their careers while in the spotlight.
Khelif's gold medal is Algeria's first in women's boxing. She is only the nation's second boxing gold medalist, joining Hocine Soltani (1996).
Hundreds of Khelif's flag-clad and noise-making supporters lined the paths through the famous Roland Garros tennis complex in Paris and packed the stands, chanting, clapping and waving Algerian flags. Khelif also became a hero in her North African country, where many fans saw Khelif's dissection around the world as a criticism of their nation.
Khelif's fight was called “The Night of Destiny” in the local papers. Projection screens to watch the match were installed in public squares in Algiers and other cities. In the town of Tiaret in the region where Khelif is from, workers braved the scorching summer heat to paint a mural of Khelif on the gym where he learned to box.
“Imane has managed to turn criticism and attacks on her femininity into fuel,” said Mustapha Bensaou of the Tiaret gym. “The slander gave him an impetus. … It's a bit of a blessing in disguise.”
The gold medal fight is the culmination of Khelif's nine-day run through an Olympic tournament that began with a bizarre event. Khelif's first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, abandoned the match after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khelif's strikes.
An already ongoing story has suddenly become major international news, with the likes of former US President Donald Trump and “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling weighing in with criticism and false speculation about men competing with women in sports. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni personally visited Carini to offer her condolences and question Khelif's eligibility.
Carini later said he regretted his actions and wanted to apologize to Khelif. Italian newspaper La Stampa detailed Carini's mindset in the days leading up to the match, describing pressure from within and outside his squad to avoid the fight amid growing speculation over Khelif's status.
Khelif has never done as well in another international tournament as he did in these Olympics. When she was panned last week as some sort of unstoppable punching machine by pundits and challengers who had never seen her fight before, opponents and teammates who know her were shocked by the characterization.
Then he lived up to the notion of being one of the best Olympic boxers in the world.
Boxing's ousted governing body didn't help its case over her disqualification from last year's World Championships during a shambolic press conference in which its leadership contradicted the tests and refused to answer questions basic about them, citing privacy concerns from the Olympian. committees in Algeria and Taiwan.
Lin is also fighting for a gold medal on Saturday on the final card of the Olympics. She faces Poland's Julia Szeremeta with a chance to win Taiwan's first boxing gold.
