Algeria's Imane Khelif, epicenter of gender controversy, wins gold medal at Paris Olympics in boxing

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif overcome several obstacles on her road to Olympic gold medal in Paris. Rising to 1.79 meters and sporting unique braided hair, the 25-year-old has become somewhat well-known during the Paris Olympics 2024. From an isolated community three hundred kilometres from Algiers, Khelif's path from adversity in a traditional setting emphasises her tenacity.

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Algeria’s Imane Khelif creates Olympic history despite adversities

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has won a gold medal Friday at the Paris Olympics, emerging 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’s welterweight division, wrapping up the best series of fights of her boxing career with a victory at Roland Garros, where crowds chanted her name, waved Algerian flags and roared every time she landed a punch.

After her unanimous win, Khelif jumped into her coaches’ arms, one of them putting her on his shoulders and carrying her in a victory lap as she pumped her fists and grabbed an Algerian flag from the crowd.

“For eight years, this has been my dream, and I’m now the Olympic champion and gold medalist,” Khelif said through an interpreter. Asked about the scrutiny, she told reporters: “That also gives my success a special taste because of those attacks.”

“We are in the Olympics to perform as athletes, and I hope that we will not see any similar attacks in future Olympics,” she said.

Fans have embraced Khelif in Paris 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.

It stems from the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association’s decision to disqualify Khelif and fellow two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan from last year’s world championships, claiming both failed an eligibility test for women’s competition that IBA officials have declined to answer basic questions about.

(With inputs from AP)