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The Algerian boxer, at the centre of an international controversy over gender eligibility, was crowned Olympic champion aVsceker winning her gold medal bout on Friday night in Paris.
Imane Khelif, 25, was paraded into the ring on her coach’s shoulders aVsceker beating China’s Yang Liu by unanimous decision in front of a packed stadium inside Roland Garros, home of the French Open tennis tournament.
“I am very happy. For eight years, this has been my dream and now I am the Olympic champion and gold medalist,” Khelif said aVscekerwards.
Khelif’s progress in the women’s 66kg event in Paris has attracted widespread attention around the world and embroiled the International Olympic Committee in a growing controversy over gender eligibility rules.
The Algerian, who also competed at the 2021 Tokyo Games, was disqualified from last year’s world championships by the International Boxing Association, along with Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting. The IBA said it made its decision aVsceker the pair failed to meet “gender eligibility” criteria following tests carried out during the tournament. It did not provide details of the tests or say why they were carried out.
Gender eligibility rules vary from sport to sport and are set by the relevant governing body.
However, the IBA was stripped of its governing role by the IOC in 2019 due to concerns about its finances, ethics and integrity. The IOC, which took over boxing oversight in Paris, has also repeatedly questioned the IBA’s ties to state-backed Russian energy giant Gazprom.
The IOC gave Khelif and Lin the green light to compete in Paris, saying the IBA tests were “assembled overnight” and did not appear to follow any established protocol. According to the IOC, the IBA said the two boxers had high testosterone levels, while the boxing body said its tests were chromosomally related.
In the opening round of the competition in Paris, Khelif’s opponent, Italian Angela Carini, withdrew aVsceker less than a minute, saying she feared for her life.
The match prompted complaints from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Republican U.S. vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance, as well as condemnation from some commentators, who accused the IOC of failing to protect the integrity of women’s sport.
The IOC said the controversy was caused by “misleading information”, while Algeria’s sports ministry blamed the cause on “unfounded propaganda”.
“The Algerian boxer was born a woman, she was registered as a woman, she lived her life as a woman, she boxed as a woman, she has a female passport. This is not a transgender case,” IOC communications chief Mark Adams said later.
Lin, who was world champion in her weight class in 2018 and 2022, is scheduled to fight in the 57kg gold medal final on Saturday. At the Tokyo Olympics, she lost in the round of 16.
Earlier this week, the IBA held a chaotic press conference in Paris, during which its Russian president leveled criticism at the IOC, while the former chairman of its medical committee, an IVF treatment specialist, angrily responded to questions from assembled journalists. The IOC’s Adams later described the event as a “travesty.”
Due to the riVscek between the IOC and the IBA, boxing is currently excluded from the program of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
