The Paris Olympics had a major gender row surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won her semi-final bout on Tuesday. Khelif, 25, competing in the Women’s 66kg category, at least secured silver after she beat Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng by a unanimous points decision.
A big crowd of spectators that filled the Roland Garros chanted Khelif’s name passionately throughout the match.
Another boxer entangled in the qualification debate for other weight class is Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting who will end up with at least a bronze medal too. Three years before their participation in Tokyo Olympics and finishing without medals for both of them then-Khelif and Lin age 25 were not included in any controversy.
The two boxers faced disqualification from participating in last year’s World Championships after failing to meet gender eligibility requirements. Nevertheless; they were subsequently granted permission to take part in Paris Olympic Games.
“I am focusing on the competition and other things are not important. The important thing is that I am now in the final,” Khelife said to BeIN Sports.
“This new achievement makes me really proud. I did my best performance ever! We have been working as one team over all these years and finally today this dream came true. In this imaginary final, I need to stay focused, being up to it.”
Khelif the Algerian boxer was given a rousing reception as she entered Roland Garros which usually hosts Grand Slam tennis tournaments.
A huge number of Algerian fans waving their flags were present at the venue screaming “Imane, Imane” during this match.
During the third round, Janjaem took a standing count when she tasted Khelif’s superior skills due to her shorter height compared with that of her opponent.
Despite all these things however, at the end of fight between two fighters they showed sportsmanship hugging warmly each other and shaking hands.
Khelif performed a dance in the middle of the ring to celebrate her win, which made the audience cheer even more.
She will face Yang Liu for the gold medal, after the Chinese boxer defeated Taiwan’s Chen Nien-chin on points in the other semi-final.
The the gender controversy surrounding Khelif and another boxer Lin began when she beat Angela Carini just 46 seconds into her first match. Carini suffered a bad nose injury, broke down crying and quit fighting. The International Boxing Association (IBA) organized 2023 world championships from where Khelif and Lin were expelled. Consequently, the international Olympic committee (IOC) has taken over running boxing at the Olympics due to concerns regarding IBA’s finances, governance and ethics.
In a chaotic press conference minus any clear answers about what had happened to either contender; Umar Kremlev, who has links with Kremlin made scandalous comments that both had “genetic testing that shows that these are men.”
The IOC has strongly supported Khelif and Lin, stating their sex as male because they have been females since birth as indicated on their passports by Thomas Bach.
