Imane Khelif smiled, danced and roared with delight after beating China’s Yang Liu to become the first Algerian, Arab and African woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal at the Paris Games.
The 25-year-old dominated the three-round welterweight fight and was announced the winner in a unanimous decision by the judges at the Rolland-Garros Stadium in the French capital on Friday night.
The Algerian, who had been at the centre of a gender dispute in one of the major talking points of the Olympics, never looked in any trouble as she enjoyed the backing of a rapturous Algerian crowd in the stands at Court Philippe-Chatrier.
She been caught up in a gender debate after a 2023 decision by the now-banned International Boxing Association (IBA) resurfaced, which disqualified her for failing a gender eligibility test.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has rejected the results of the IBA-ordered tests as arbitrary and illegitimate, saying there was no reason to conduct them.
Khelif’s supporters came prepared with the Algerian flag and let out a loud roar as Khelif walked into the arena ahead of the fight. They cheered her on all the way from the first round up until the medal ceremony as Khelif stood proudly in the centre of the podium with a gold medal on her chest.
“It was my dream [to win this medal] and I am very happy today that I’m an Olympic gold medallist,” Khelif told the BBC after winning the fight.
“Eight years of hard work, eight years of [being] too tired, eight years of no sleep – [this is] fantastic,” she added.
🇩🇿🥇 IMANE KHELIF GOLD MEDAL !
Algerian women continue to make us proud #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/xYe4eMGHWI
— Algeria FC (@Algeria_FC) August 9, 2024
The 66kg (145.5lb) fight was the last bout on a busy night of medal matches at the games.
Yang began the first round strongly and tried to push Khelif back, but the fighter from northwestern Algeria could not be cowered. Instead, she fought back with a strong blow towards the end of the first round to win it with ease.
There was no letup from the Algerian in the second round, and while Yang tried to fight back, she could not do enough to emerge victorious.
By the third round, Yang seemed to have lost the power to be the aggressor and while Khelif waited for her to attack, the Chinese fighter missed several shots and seemed to have accepted defeat.
‘Algeria is very happy today’
Wearing red and a victor’s smile, Khelif walked up to the centre of the ring for the referee to raise her left hand as the winner. She then saluted the crowd before breaking into a now trademark dance around the ring.
It was in stark contrast to the scene at the end of her quarterfinal fight, where she wept as she embraced her team.
As soon as Khelif climbed down the ring, her team members held her aloft on their shoulders and walked her around the arena as the gold medallist soaked in the applause while raising the Algerian flag.
The tall fighter thanked the droves of Algerian supporters who filled up the arena, as well as those who supported her from around the world while she was targeted in a gender dispute.
“I want to thank all the Algerian people here in Paris, around the world and in Algeria,” she said after the fight.
“All the people from Algeria and all the people at my base. I want to thank all the team, my coach. Thank you so much.”
“Algeria is very happy today.”
