TIARET, Algeria: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif's impoverished hometown erupted in jubilation on Friday as he won gold at the Paris Olympics in the face of a major gender controversy.
In Biban Mesbah, a town of about 6,000 people, cheers broke out for Khelif's name and the country's famous “one two three, viva l'Algerie” song.
“It's Algeria's victory,” her father, Omar Khelif, told reporters as he watched the fight on a giant screen with the rest of the village about 300 kilometers (185 miles) southwest of Algiers.
Villagers fired in the air in honor of 25-year-old Khelif's first Olympic medal after her victory over China's Yang Liu in the women's 66kg final.
The jubilation extended to the capital Algiers, where crowds invaded the city center, celebrating the victory with fireworks and a chorus of car horns.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune joined the celebrations on social media site X, saying: “We are all proud of you, Olympic champion Imane, your victory today is Algeria's victory and your gold is Algeria's gold.”
Before Khelif's fight, hundreds of volunteers showed up in Biban Mesbah to help prepare for the big night.
Despite scorching temperatures of 46 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit), the men carried out a vast cleaning operation while dozens of women were busy cooking a giant couscous.
“We agreed to give the village a new face and give it a new life with the victory of Imane Khelif,” her cousin Mounir Khelif, 36, told AFP.
“We all helped each other, some bringing couscous, others oil and vegetables, while those who couldn't help themselves with supplies helped with the cooking,” said Amina Saadi, 52, a mother of six children.
“We are all united behind Imane Khelif, who has honored Algeria, this is the least we can offer,” she said.
The boxer has been the victim of a hate campaign on social media that portrays her as “a man who fights women”.
“I am a strong woman with special powers. From the ring, I sent a message to those who were against me,” she said on Friday after the victory.
The gender controversy flared in the French capital when Khelif defeated Angela Carini in 46 seconds in the first match, the Italian reduced to tears and abandoned the fight after suffering a badly injured nose.
Algerians from all walks of life have shown their solidarity with Khelif, outraged that her father was forced to show journalists his birth certificate to prove she was born a girl.
Khelif's international career took off with her participation in the Covid-postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she finished fifth in her weight class.
In 2023, he reached the semifinals of the world championships in New Delhi.
But she was then disqualified following gender eligibility tests by the International Boxing Association, which is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee and does not run the sport in Paris.
From a family of limited means, she spoke before the Games about the difficulty of her life in a “village of conservative people” in a semi-desert setting.
Imane said her father initially found it hard to accept her boxing.
“I came from a conservative family. Boxing is not a sport widely practiced by women, especially in Algeria,” she told Canal Algerie a month before the Games, smiling slightly and her voice soft.
In an interview with UNICEF, she said she used to sell scrap metal and her mother sold homemade couscous to pay for bus tickets to a nearby town.
