Imane Khelif: I was born a woman, I’ve lived as a woman and competed as a woman
The Algerian won Olympic gold in Paris.
Imane Khelif said questions over her eligibility made victory taste even sweeter after she eased to Olympic boxing gold on a packed Philippe-Chatrier Court at Roland Garros on Friday night.
Thousands of Algerian fans roared the 25-year-old welterweight to a unanimous decision over China’s reigning world champion Yang Liu, dominating their three-round bout before being carried on a lap of honour around the arena by her jubilant cornermen.
Khelif and Chinese Taipei boxer Lin Yu-ting were both cleared to compete by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), despite being banned by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023 for allegedly failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.
The IBA had failed to provide any concrete evidence of the testing process or results at a chaotic press conference staged by the discredited governing body in Paris last week.
The IBA has been barred from involvement in each of the last two Olympic boxing tournaments by the IOC over financial and corruption concerns and its president Umar Kremlev has repeatedly railed against the governance of IOC president Thomas Bach.
Khelif added: “Since 2018 I’ve been boxing under the umbrella of the IBA. They know me very well and what I’m capable of. But now they are not recognised anymore and they hate me, and I don’t know why. I sent them a single message with this gold medal.
“My message to the whole world is that they should commit to Olympic principles and they should not bully people. I hope that people will stop bullying, and I hope we will not see similar attacks in future Olympics.”
The claim by her first opponent, Angela Carini, that she “had never been hit so hard” in the course of her 46-second defeat was seized upon by many public figures, including Donald Trump, Elon Musk and JK Rowling.
Liu, who won the 2023 world title in Khelif’s absence, was clearly second best in the opening exchanges but rallied in the second, catching her opponent with some sharp counter shots, only to once again lose the round and with it, effectively, the contest.
Lin is scheduled to contest the women’s 57kg final against Poland’s Julia Szeremeta on Saturday.
