Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is one win away from wrapping up her tumultuous Paris Olympics with a gold medal around her neck – a potential prize she has described as the best response to the wave of online abuse she has suffered because of misconceptions about her gender.
On Friday evening, Imane Khelif will face China’s Yang Liu in the women’s welterweight final at Roland Garros. Imane Khelif has not lost a round on the judges’ card in her first three fights in Paris, putting together the most dominant run of her boxing career while coming under intense scrutiny.
At last year’s world championships, Imane Khelif was disqualified by the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, which claims she failed an obscure eligibility test for women’s competitions.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year took the unprecedented step of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympic Games, after years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. It described as irreparably flawed the arbitrary sex tests that the governing body imposed on Imane Khelif.
This week, the IBA did not help its argument at a stormy press conference during which its executives contradicted themselves about the tests and refused to answer basic questions about them, citing the Algerian Olympic Committee’s concerns about protecting privacy.
This week, the IBA did not help its argument at a stormy press conference during which its executives contradicted themselves about the tests and refused to answer basic questions about them, citing the Algerian Olympic Committee’s concerns about protecting privacy.
On several occasions, the IOC has reaffirmed the Algerian’s right to compete in Paris, with President Thomas Bach personally defending Imane Khelif while describing the criticism as “hate speech”.
“We have a boxer who was born as a woman, raised as a woman, with a passport as a woman and who has fought for many years as a woman”, declared Mr Bach.
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Speaking to SNTV, a sports video partner of the Associated Press, Khelif said that the wave of hatred she had received “undermines human dignity” and called for an end to the intimidation of athletes.
A massive contingent of flag-waving Algerian fans waved and serenaded Khelif throughout her semi-final victory on Tuesday night, and she became a hometown hero in her North African country.
Imane Khelif’s gold medal fight is the highlight of nine days of fighting in an Olympic tournament that began with a bizarre event. Angela Carini of Italy, her first opponent, abandoned the fight after just 46 seconds, saying she was suffering too much from her punches.
