Boxer Imane Khelif Wins Olympic Gold

PARIS (AP) Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has won a gold medal  Friday at the Paris Olympics, emerging a champion from a tumultuous run at the Games where she endured intense scrutiny in the ring and online abuse  from around the world over misconceptions about her womanhood.

Khelif beat Yang Liu of China 5:0 in the final of the womens welterweight division, wrapping up the best series of fights of her boxing career with a victory at Roland Garros, where crowds chanted her name , waved Algerian flags and roared every time she landed a punch.

After her unanimous win, Khelif jumped into her coaches arms, one of them putting her on his shoulders and carrying her in a victory lap as she pumped her fists and grabbed an Algerian flag from the crowd.

For eight years, this has been my dream, and Im now the Olympic champion and gold medalist, Khelif said through an interpreter. Asked about the scrutiny, she told reporters: That also gives my success a special taste because of those attacks.

We are in the Olympics to perform as athletes, and I hope that we will not see any similar attacks in future Olympics, she said.

Fans have embraced Khelif in Paris even as she faced an extraordinary amount of scrutiny  from world leaders, major celebrities and others who have questioned her eligibility or falsely claimed she was a man. It has thrust her into a larger divide over changing attitudes toward gender identity and regulations in sports.

It stems from the Russian-dominated International Boxing Associations  decision to disqualify Khelif and fellow two-time Olympian Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan  from last years world championships, claiming both failed an eligibility test for womens competition that IBA officials have declined to answer basic questions about.

Im fully qualified to take part in this competition, Khelif said Friday. Im a woman like any other woman. I was born as a woman, I live as a woman, and I am qualified.

The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step last year of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics  following years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. The IOC has called the arbitrary sex tests that the sports governing body  imposed on the two boxers irretrievably flawed .

The IOC has repeatedly reaffirmed the two boxers right to compete in Paris, with President Thomas Bach  personally defending Khelif and Lin while calling the criticism hate speech.

Khelif noted that she has boxed in IBA competitions since 2018 but now they hate me, and I dont know why.

I sent them a single message with this gold medal, and that is that my dignity and honor are above all else, she said.

The IBAs reputation hasnt stopped the international outcry tied to misconceptions around the fighters, which has been amplified by Russian disinformation networks . It also hasnt slowed two boxers who have performed at the highest levels of their careers while under the spotlights glare.

Khelif was dominant in Paris at a level she had never reached before: She won every round on every judges scorecard in each of her three fights that went the distance.

Khelifs gold medal is Algerias first in womens boxing. She is only the nations second boxing gold medalist, joining Hocine Soltani (1996) while claiming the seventh gold medal in Algerias Olympic history.

While Khelif drew enthusiastic, flag-draped fans in Paris, she also has become a hero  in her North African country, where many have seen the worlds dissection of Khelif as criticism of their nation.

Dubbed The Night of Destiny in local newspapers, Khelifs fight was projected on screens set up in public squares throughout Algiers and other cities. In the city of Tiaret in the region where Khelif is from, workers braved scorching summer heat to paint a mural of Khelif on the gym where she learned to box.

Imane has managed to turn the criticism and attacks on her femininity into fuel, said Mustapha Bensaou of the Tiaret gym. The slander has given her a boost. ... Its a bit of a blessing in disguise.

Khelif won the first round over Yang on all five judges cards despite showing a bit less aggression than earlier in the tournament. Khelif then knocked Yang back against the ropes with a combination early in the second, although Yang responded with a flurry of shots and fought gamely.

Khelif won the second round and cruised through the third, doing a triumphant boxers shuffle in the final seconds of the bout before the boxers hugged. When the verdict was announced, Khelif saluted and pumped her arm with glee.

During the medal ceremony, she grinned and waved to the crowd before kissing her gold medal. The four medalists boxing gives out two bronze then posed for a podium selfie, clasped hands and raised them together.

The gold medal fight was the culmination of Khelifs nine-day run through an Olympic tournament that began bizarrely . Khelifs first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, abandoned their bout after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khelifs punches.

An already brewing story suddenly drew comments from the likes of former U.S. President Donald Trump and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, weighing in with criticism and false speculation about men competing with women in sports. Carini later said she regretted her actions and wished to apologize to Khelif.

Khelif has never done as well in another international tournament as she did in these Olympics. When she was cast as some sort of unstoppable punching machine last week by pundits and provocateurs who had never seen her fight before, opponents and teammates who knew her were shocked by the characterization.

Then she lived up to the notion of being one of the best Olympic boxers in the world.

Lin fights for a gold medal Saturday on the final card of the Olympics. She takes on Julia Szeremeta of Poland with a chance to win Taiwans first boxing gold.

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