By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) -Algeria’s Imane Khelif, the female boxer thrust into the centre of a gender dispute at the Paris Games, made a statement on her womanhood after beating China’s Yang Liu to take the welterweight Olympic gold medal, sending her newfound devotees into delirium on Friday.
Khelif, silver medallist at the 2022 World Championships, and Taiwan boxer Lin Yu-ting have been in the spotlight as part of a gender dispute in Paris that has dominated headlines and been the subject of much discussion on social media platforms.
Khelif, who won by unanimous decision, is the first Algerian woman to earn an Olympic boxing title and the first boxer from her country to claim gold since Hocine Soltani at Atlanta 1996. Women’s boxing has been in the Olympics since London 2012.
“This is my dream. Eight years, my dream. I’m Olympic champion, gold medallist. I’m very happy. Eight years, I work,” Khelif, 25, said.
“Eight years, no sleep. Eight years, tired. Now I’m Olympic champion. I’m very happy. I want to thank all the people come to support me. People, Algeria, and all the people, Paris.
“This gold medal is the best answer to the fierce campaign against me.”
Responding to the controversy surrounding her, Khelif told a press conference: “I am a woman like any woman. I was born a woman and I have lived as a woman, but there are enemies to success and they can’t digest my success.”
Her defeated opponent Yang said: “I’m happy for her. I respect everybody and I will even learn from her (boxing wise).”
Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand and Taiwan’s Chen Nien-chin were awarded bronze.
Khelif and double world champion Lin were disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the 2023 World Championships, with the body saying at a press conference during the Paris Games that a gender test had ruled them ineligible.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is using boxing eligibility rules in Paris that were applied at the 2016 and 2021 Olympics and which do not include gender testing.
HIGH VOLUME
The volume went up several notches to ear-splitting level when Khelif entered the arena on Friday in her red trunks and shirt for the last bout on a suffocating Parisian evening, the only breeze coming from the hundreds of flags being waved.
“Imane, Imane, Imane!” the crowd chanted and screamed.
Yang was even booed as she made her entrance.
Khelif, keeping her opponent at bay with her jab and taking control of the centre of the ring, landed an early left hook, soon followed by a right as she looked in total control.
She sent Yang to the ropes with a precise right hook at the start of the second round. Yang refused to back down but never found the right distance to threaten her opponent, who rode a wave of support on court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros.
The crowd cheered as Khelif’s corner carried her on their shoulders to the end of the stadium.
They roared even more when she jumped down and began shadow-boxing towards the stands to the tune of ‘Abdelkader’, from the cult album “1,2,3 Soleil” by three of the most famous French-Algerian singers: Cheb Khaled, Rachid Taha and Faudel.
It really had seemed as easy as ABC for Khelif as the Jackson Five song blared out over the speakers while the podium was built on the ring as another moment of celebration awaited.
The crowd started ululating, with the joyful high-pitched sound usually performed by women in the Arab world at weddings and celebrations reverberating through the arena before the Algerian anthem
Khelif then embraced the other three women on the podium in a scene of sheer joy.
Khelif and Lin are competing at the Games after the IOC stripped the IBA of its status as the sport’s governing body in 2023 and took control of organising the boxing in Paris.
The IOC rejected the results of the IBA-ordered gender tests as arbitrary and illegitimate, saying there was no reason to conduct them – a stance backed on Friday by Human Rights Watch.
(Additional reporting by Aadi Nair, Juliette Jabkhiro, Ossian Shine and Achraf Hamed Atta; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Ken Ferris)
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