'I am a woman': Victorious gender scandal boxer Imane Khelif hits out at 'bullies and enemies' after clinching Olympic gold

10 August 2024, 10:21

Imane Khelif - the woman at the centre of a gender eligibility row over her inclusion in the Paris Olympics - has said 'attacks' on her left a 'special taste' after clinching the gold medal last night.

The Algerian - who was disqualified from the World Championships last year after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests - said she "doesn't care" about the controversy swirling over her inclusion in the women's 66kg boxing category after being waved on to victory by hundreds of flag-waving Algerian supporters.

Khelif stormed through her gold medal bout with a unanimous decision over five rounds to defeat Chinese world champion Yang Liu.

Algeria's supporters turned the normally genteel surroundings of Phillippe-Chatrier Court at Roland Garros into a cauldron of noise in support of Khelif, who has come under fire from critics after Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned their fight, claiming she had fears over her safety. She later apologised to Khelif.

Khelif had managed to avoid a huge media scrum after her previous fights, but the Algerian broke her silence to hit out at her critics: "I don't care what anyone is saying about me with the controversy."

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She continued: "I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I am a woman like any other woman.

"I was born a woman. I have lived as a woman. I competed as a woman - there is no doubt about that."

Khelif said she had been a victim of "bullying" since her fight with Carini, claiming that the International Boxing Association (IBA) "hate me and I really don’t know why".

But the governing body itself was stripped of its international recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year for its failure to complete reforms on governance, finance and ethical issues.

It is also closely tied to the Kremlin and its president, Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, is believed to be a close ally of Vladimir Putin.

Khelif is one of two fighters, along with Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, who were disqualified from last year's World Championships for failing to meet gender eligibility criteria. But disgraced sporting authority the IBA carried out the tests in 2023.

Continuing her comments after the fight: "All that is important to me is that I stay on the level and give my people the performance they deserve. I know I'm a talented person and this is a gift to all Algerians."

On Monday, an IBA press conference descended into farce as controversial president Kremlev made baseless claims about Lin and Khelif and launched an astonishing tirade against IOC president Thomas Bach.

Khelif and Lin were allowed to return to competition by the IOC, which is effectively administering the Paris 2024 boxing tournament in the IBA's absence.

The case has aroused global interest, with figures such as former United States president Donald Trump and Harry Potter author JK Rowling weighing in on the issue.

Khelif won every round on the judges' cards, appearing close to securing a stoppage at times, and celebrated with a victory jig in the ring as the Algerian supporters celebrated wildly.

Last week's controversial bout between Khelif and Carini came under scrutiny from the likes for former Team GB gold medal winner Nicola Adams who said it was "unfair and dangerous".

Adams, who won flyweight gold for Team GB in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, wrote on X on last Friday: "After years of fighting for women's boxing to even exist in the Olympics and then all the training they go through to get there it was hard to watch another fighter be forced to give up on her Olympic dreams.

"People not born as biological women, that have been through male puberty, should not be able to compete in women's sport. Not only is this unfair it's dangerous!"

Shortly after the fight, the IOC said that as with previous Games, the gender of athletes was based on their passports.

The body said "misleading information" had been reported about Khelif and Lin, and pointed out they had been competing in international boxing events for many years, including the Tokyo Games three years ago.

It described the IBA's decision to disqualify them last year as "sudden" and "arbitrary" and having been made "without due process".

The IBA has not given specifics regarding Khelif and Lin's disqualification but said on Thursday the decision to disqualify had been based on "two trustworthy tests" at World Championships in Istanbul in 2022 and New Delhi in 2023.