Imane Khelif clinches Olympic boxing gold to become unique hero amid gender row

Imane Khelif was lifted high onto the shoulders of her coach. Carried around this Roland Garros ring, spinning in delight to the raucous noise from her adoring Algerian fans, it was gold. A moment in time as the controversy of the last fortnight was dispelled.

“Imane, Imane, Imane,” cried the fans. Thousands of them, from generations past in Paris, provided the hostile setting for poor Yang Liu. Khelif, who has been in the eye of a storm following a gender test row at the Olympics, proved too slick, too powerful, and repelled the Chinese boxer’s southpaw stance with her punishing right hands.

A redemption of sorts, although this issue will linger long after the dust settles on this women’s welterweight gold-medal fight. The most controversial issue of Paris 2024, ever since outrage exploded following Angela Carini’s withdrawal after 46 seconds in her round-of-16 bout against the Algerian. The Italian launched a tearful diatribe, first stating, “This is not right,” and then claiming that she had “never been hit so hard” in her life. It provoked sympathy and anger, yet so many of these views came without all the facts, or even a pause to consider the ramifications of spreading such misinformation.

This chapter to Khelif’s career, an unremarkable one before stepping foot in Paris, despite silver at the World Championships two years ago, is now one of the most pivotal in the sport’s history after a one-sided points victory, as she claimed every round under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier. No matter her future in the sport, she will always have this gold medal.

News surrounding her disqualification for allegedly failing a gender eligibility test at the 2023 World Championship prompted deep discussion about the future of women’s sport and its policies, or lack of, to protect it. That will extend in the weeks and months ahead.

According to the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is no longer recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), leaving the sport’s organisation this last fortnight to the IOC-founded Paris Boxing Unit, Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting – who also guaranteed at least a silver medal in the featherweight tournament – first returned adverse test results in 2022.

Many questions need answering from this episode and with time and space, perhaps the IOC and IBA can deliver a more coherent stance on the issue surrounding women’s sport. Any solution would also provide a path for other sports. Yet so far there has been too much talking with little substance or detail. Notably the IBA’s presence in Paris and a chaotic press conference this week, whereby General Secretary and CEO Chris Roberts claimed Khelif and Lin’s test results “demonstrated the chromosomes that we referred to within the competition rules”, which made them “ineligible”.

But there was no mention of XY chromosomes, which relate to male biological development. Nor has there been any substance to the wild, reckless and unfounded allegations on social media that Khelif is a transgender athlete. It has been an exercise in stating what is not true, as much as what is.

This ugly side of the story, which spread so rapidly, has also inevitably led to bullying, with Khelif pleading for it to stop, noting that “it can destroy people”.

Moving forward, then, sport needs clarity surrounding testing, with the IOC and IBA squabbling over the methods, yet providing little detail behind their arguments. The IBA maintains that a passport alone is insufficient, and perhaps a more thorough process is required for the issue at large: protecting fairness and, in the case of violent sports such as boxing, the health and safety of women in sport.

Amid such a poisonous episode for boxing, it was jarring inside Court Philippe-Chatrier, with the roof on, to hear the noise, see the colours and feel the power that boxing can offer even in the face of adversity. It is perhaps the most pure sport in that sense, rich in diversity and, in the amateur code at least, provoking a sense of national pride. Unlike many professional bouts, too, these finals at Paris 2024 – sent over to the home of the French Open – delivered that kind of pugilistic celebration. The atmosphere was packed with flags, multiple languages and music, with less of the loathsome aggression that so often clouds professional bouts.

It was reassuring to witness the crowd delight in the beautiful clash of styles in the ring, too. Many of them will not have watched these fighters before. Mexico can take heart, despite defeat to Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev, from the reception of Marco Alonso Verde Alvarez and a thunderous approach, eventually, to the men’s welterweight final.

Khelif, too, had a hint of that ‘Mexican style’, failing to give ground and quickly pinning Yang against the ropes in the first round before letting her hands go. A crackle of noise soon turned into an outright roar.

Khelif’s right hand was pinned to her ear, waiting patiently before pulling the trigger. Every time it was thrown, the deafening noise from the Algerians added an extra bounce to her boxing.

The grimace on Yang’s face after two rounds suggested she knew the game was up. And Khelif did too, as the third round expired. She ended the contest with a little shuffle, then a dance. The bell sounded before a warm hug with Yang. The kind of embrace that defied the initial toxicity of her run to gold.

Now the seventh Algerian to win an Olympic gold medal, Khelif has proven an inspiration to her people back home. Protecting one of their own in such a vulnerable position has been a powerful moment. Boxing has discovered a new hero to millions, now it must find a way to protect such heroes moving forward.