Imane Khelif is from rural northwestern Algeria, and she was interested in playing soccer until she fell in love with boxing. Overcoming her father’s objections, she travelled 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) by bus and train for fights in a neighboring town.
The 25-year-old Khelif acknowledged the pressure and pain of enduring while competing far from home in the most important event of her athletic career.
The victory of Khelif and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan in the ring in Paris have become one of the biggest achievements of the Paris Games. Both women have won their first Olympic medals even as they have faced online abuse based on unsubstantiated claims about their gender, drawing them into a wider divide over changing attitudes toward gender identity and regulations in sports.
Boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria won the gold medal Saturday at the Paris Olympics following the days of sharp scrutiny and online abuse as controversy about her gender have become into a larger clash about identity in sports.
Khelif has faced international scrutiny after the International Boxing Association claimed Khelif as failed an unspecified eligibility test for women’s competition last year. She then won her opening bout Thursday when opponent Angela Carini of Italy tearfully ended the fight after just 46 seconds.
Khelif will face Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand in the 66-kg semifinals on Tuesday at Roland Garros. Suwannapheng, a silver medalist at last year’s world championships, but she was upset defending Olympic champion Busenaz Surmeneli a few minutes before Khelif’s victory.
Within hours of khelif’s victory on Thursday over Italy’s Angela Carini, unfounded claims that Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif is actually a man or “biological male” swirled online — amplified by the likes of Elon Musk, J.K. Rowling, Logan Paul and Caitlyn Jenner.
It all started when the fight stopped — after just 46 seconds with a punch to Carini’s nose.
Carini later apologized for snubbing Khelif, saying she was angry because her “Olympics had gone up in smoke.”
She said the resulting controversy has made her sad.
“I don’t have anything against Khelif. Actually, if I were to meet her again I would embrace her,” she said.
Khelif’s victory was emotional — she went to the center of the ring, waved to her fans, knelt and slammed her palm on the canvas, her a smile turning to tears. She left the ring to hug her coaches while her fans roared, weeping during their embrace and as she walked out.
The boxing tournament in Paris is being organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which stripped the IBA of international recognition in 2023 over governance and finance issues.
Under-fire Algerian boxer Imane Khelif beat Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori in the women’s welterweight boxing quarter-final of the 2024 Olympics on Saturday, as a gender eligibility row raged in the backdrop.
Khelif dominated the three-round contest and will now face Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng in the semi-final on Tuesday, August 6.