Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won what will be remembered as the most controversial gold medal of the Paris Olympics when she won an emotional women’s welterweight boxing final at Roland Garros.
The famous tennis stadium was filled with Algerian fans who chanted “Imame, Imame, Imame” as she overpowered China’s Yang Liu to claim the gold in the wake of the furore which has engulfed Khelif and the sport.
When she was announced as the winner, Khelif saluted the fans, hugged her beaten opponent, pumped her fist and looked genuinely stunned after achieving her dream amid the gender eligibility debate which has ignited during the Games.
She jumped into her coach’s arms before proudly parading the Algerian flag around the ring.
“The first gold medal for Africa and the Arab world [for women’s boxing],” she said. “I want to thank everyone. This is my dream, now I am very happy. I am very happy.
“It was my dream and I am very happy today that I’m an Olympic gold medallist. Eight years of hard work, eight years of [being] too tired, eight years of no sleep. Fantastic.”
Last year, the International Boxing Association banned Khelif and Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting from the world championships due to “a failure to meet eligibility rules”, a decision that has fuelled online abuse against the women during the Paris Games.
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The backlash against Khelif and Lin ballooned after the Algerian fighter’s first opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, tearfully abandoned their bout after just 46 seconds. Carini later said she regretted her actions and wished to apologise to Khelif.
The IBA said it wanted to give $3.1 million in prizes to top Olympic performers this summer in defiance of the IOC.
Lin Yu-ting has advanced to the gold medal bout in the featherweight division which will be held on Sunday morning (AEST).
For Khelif, her victory was by unanimous decision after she took control from the opening bell.
She won each round to get the nod on each of the judge’s scorecards.
Khelif became her North African nation’s first Olympic gold medallist since the London Games in 2012.
Earlier this week Khelif warned about the dangers of bullying athletes.
“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects,” Khelif said in Arabic.
“It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”
The IBA failed to provide any proof of its test results at a shambolic media conference earlier this week and the International Olympic Committee has rejected those claims to stand by the two boxers at the centre of the firestorm.
Deriding the “hate speech” which has been levelled at the boxers and calling the IBA’s testing flawed and illegitimate, IOC President Thomas Bach hit out at critics of the decision to allow the two boxers to compete before Khelif’s final.
“This is not a question of inclusion. This is a question of justice,” Bach said.
“This is not as easy as some in this cultural war may now want to portray it.
“If somebody is presenting us a scientifically solid system how to identify men and women, we are the first ones to do it. We do not like this uncertainty.
“What is not possible is someone saying ‘this is not a woman’ just by looking at somebody or by falling prey to a defamation campaign by a not credible organisation with highly political interests.
“Women have the right to participate in women’s competitions. And the two are women.”
Adding fuel to the online fire has been a series of social media posts from the likes of X owner Elon Musk, author JK Rowling and former US President Donald Trump.
The IOC has warned boxing is at risk of losing its status as an Olympic sport for the LA Games in 2028 due to the lack of credibility from its governing body.