Imane Khelif of Algeria secured the welterweight gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris by defeating China’s Yang Liu on Friday.
The female boxer, who was at the centre of a gender dispute at the Paris Games, put on an impressive performance that thrilled her new fans.
Khelif, a silver medalist at the 2022 World Championships, and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting were under scrutiny as part of the gender dispute in Paris, which generated significant attention on social media.
Her victory on Friday, achieved by unanimous decision, makes Khelif the first Algerian woman to win an Olympic boxing title.
She also became the first Algerian boxer to claim a gold medal since Hocine Soltani at the 1996 Atlanta Games, even though women’s boxing has been an Olympic sport since the 2012 London Games.
Despite the controversies, Khelif has maintained that she was born a woman and has always lived as such, reiterating this following her victory in the Olympic welterweight category.
“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,” Khelif, 25, told a press conference.
“This is my dream. Eight years, my dream. I’m an Olympic champion and gold medallist. I’m very happy. Eight years, I work,” she said.
“Eight years, no sleep. Eight years, tired. Now I’m the Olympic champion. I’m very happy. I want to thank all the people (who have) come to support me. People, Algeria, and all the people, Paris.
“This gold medal is the best answer to the fierce campaign against me.”
Yang, on her part, said: “I’m happy for her. I respect everybody and I will even learn from her (boxing-wise).”
