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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.
“I am fully qualified to take part in this competition – I am a woman,” said Khelif at a post-fight press conference. “I was born a woman, I’ve lived as a woman and I’ve competed as a woman. There’s no doubt that there are enemies of success, and that gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.”
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.
Kremlev, or the IBA, has variously alleged the presence of XY chromosomes or elevated testosterone levels in tests supposedly submitted by Khelif and Lin, but the presented evidence has often been contradictory and is as yet unsubstantiated.
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.
Prior to her ban, which followed a win over previously unbeaten Russian prospect Azalia Amineva, Khelif had competed as as woman throughout her career. She first contested the World Championships in 2017 and was beaten by Ireland’s Kellie Harrington in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.
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.
