Boxer who failed gender eligibility test Imane Khelif wins gold medal in Olympic final.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif, the female boxer thrust into the centre of a gender dispute at the Paris Games, beat China’s Yang Liu to claim the welterweight Olympic gold medal in crushing fashion, sending her fans into delirium.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has won after 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, silver medallist at the 2022 World Championships, and Taiwan boxer Lin Yu-ting have been in the spotlight as part of a gender dispute in Paris that has dominated headlines and been the subject of much discussion on social media platforms.
Khelif, who won by unanimous decision, is the first Algerian woman to earn an Olympic boxing title and the first boxer from her country to claim gold since Hocine Soltani at Atlanta 1996.
Women’s boxing has been in the Olympics since London 2012.
“I’m very happy. This is my dream. Eight years, my dream. I’m Olympic champion, gold medallist. I’m very happy. Eight years, I work,” Khelif, 25, said.
“Eight years, no sleep. Eight years, tired. Now, I’m Olympic champion. I’m very happy. I want to thank all the people come to support me. People, Algeria, and all the people, Paris.”
Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand and Taiwan’s Chen Nien-chin were awarded bronze.
Khelif and double world champion Lin were disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the 2023 World Championships, the body saying at a press conference during the Paris Games that a gender test had ruled them ineligible.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is using boxing eligibility rules in Paris that were applied at the 2016 and 2021 Olympics and which do not include gender testing.
Misinformed scrutiny over Khelif’s sex: The claims stem 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 a murky eligibility test for women’s competition.
The other boxer ,Li Yu-Ting who’s in the spotlight over misconceptions about her sex will fight for the gold medal in the featherweight division on Saturday night.
Khelif and Lin are competing at the Games after the IOC stripped the IBA of its status as the sport’s governing body in 2023 and took control of organising the boxing in Paris.
The IOC rejected the results of the IBA-ordered gender tests as arbitrary and illegitimate, saying there was no reason to conduct them – a stance backed on Friday by Human Rights Watch.
Peoplesmind
