After winning the boxing gold in Paris, Imane Khelif sent a strong message to those who had been attacking her throughout the Olympics.
At Roland Garros on Friday, hundreds of Algerians cheered Khelif on as she easily defeated China’s Yang Liu via unanimous decision to win the gold medal in Olympic boxing and become the country’s first female athlete.
It follows two weeks in which the 25-year-old’s involvement in the women’s 66kg competition has been under close examination following her disqualification from the Women’s World Championships of last year due to suspected violations of International Boxing Association (IBA) gender eligibility rules.
The International Olympic Committee, which has barred the IBA from running boxing at the Olympics over financial and corruption concerns, allowed Khelif to compete but the boxer has still received intense scrutiny and online hate, in particular after her 46-second stoppage win against Italy’s Italy’s Angela Carini.
After collecting her medal, an emotional Khelief issued a defiant message, insisting the constant scrutiny over the last fortnight had only made her eventual triumph even sweeter.
‘I am fully qualified to take part in this competition – I am a woman,’ she said. ‘I was born a woman, I’ve lived as a woman and I’ve competed as a woman.
‘These people [who claim I am not], they are the enemies of success. It’s what I call them. It gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.
Imane Khelif after receiving her Women's Welterweight Olympic Gold medal 🥺🥇#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/z8j0QtJsEN
— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 9, 2024
‘My message to the whole world is that they should commit to Olympic principles and they should not bully people.
‘I hope that people will stop bullying, and I hope we will not see similar attacks in future Olympics.’
Despite alleging that Khelif and another boxer – Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting – had undergone genetic testing which showed they were men, the IBA and its president Umar Kremlev are yet to release any evidence to back up the claims.
And when asked by reporters if she had a message for the governing body, Khelif insisted she had already sent them a simple but powerful image.
‘Since 2018 I’ve been boxing under the umbrella of the IBA. They know me very well and what I’m capable of,’ she said.
‘But now they are not recognised anymore and they hate me, and I don’t know why. I sent them a single message with this gold medal.’