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Olympics: Imane Khelif wins women's boxing gold

August 9, 2024

Welterweight boxer Imane Khelif has defeated Yang Liu of China to claim gold at the Paris Olympics. Her cruise toward the top prize has been accompanied by an intense focus on eligibility rules in women's sports.

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Imane Khelif of Algeria being carried around the arena, holding an Algerian flag aloft, after winning Olympic women's featherweight boxing gold. Paris, August 9, 2024.
Khelif and her team celebrated with the Algerian flag, after many of her compatriots came to see the fightImage: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa/picture alliance

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif claimed a unanimous points decision against China's Yang Liu in the women's welterweight gold medal fight on Friday evening. 

The 25-year-old won welterweight (maximum 66 kilos or 145 pounds) gold after facing intense scrutiny throughout the competition.

She completed a dominant run through her weight class at the Olympics, not being judged to lose a single round en route to the final.

Gold medallist Algeria's Imane Khelif poses on the podium during the medal ceremony for the women's 66kg final boxing category during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Roland-Garros Stadium, in Paris on August 9, 2024.
The 25-year-old claimed gold in her second Olympic attempt, having previously competed in TokyoImage: MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images

"I'm very happy. For eight years this has been my dream, and I'm now the Olympic champion and gold medalist," Khelif said after the fight. "I've worked for eight years, no sleep, eight years tired. Now I'm Olympic champion."

Large numbers of Algerian fans had flocked to the Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros, better known as the home to French Open tennis, to cheer for Khelif.

Imane Khelif of Algeria (red) celebrates after winning against Liu Yang of China (blue) in women's 66 kg gold medal final boxing fight during day 14 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on August 9, 2024 in Paris.
Judges scored the bout unanimously for Khelif and she was named winner on pointsImage: PETTER ARVIDSON/BILDBYRÅN/picture alliance

Gender eligibility furor overshadows Olympic run

But Khelif's Olympics have been characterized by intense focus on her being excluded from women's competition by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023, a ruling that Khelif and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have disagreed with. 

The IBA previously administered Olympic boxing until 2019, and so the IOC's verdict on Khelif's eligibility stands. 

Khelif, like Taiwanese featherweight boxer Lin Yu-ting, is deemed by the IBA to have failed sex eligibility tests. The Russian-run federation, however, has come under criticism for lack of transparency on its testing standards. 

"I am a woman like any woman. 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," Khelif told reporters after the Olympic bout.

Algeria's Imane Khelif (left) landing a punch against China's Liu Yang during the Women's 66kg Final at Roland-Garros Stadium on the fourteenth day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in France. August 9, 2024.
Yang Liu, a world champion, was Khelif's toughest test of the Games to date, and a closer matchup in terms of reachImage: Peter Byrne/empics/picture alliance

The boxers may have any of a number of conditions known as differences of sex development, or DSDs. The most famous past Olympic case of a similar type would be middle-distance runner Caster Semenya, from South Africa. 

Both have also faced false accusations of being men or being transgender fighters. 

Lin Yu-ting fights in the featherweight (maximum 57 kilos or 125 pounds) gold medal contest on Saturday. 

Both Khelif and Lin had fought, without such attention and without claiming medals, at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

Olympic boxing is typically seen as the pinnacle of amateur fighting and is unavailable to the pros.  

msh/sms (AFP, Reuters)