Imane Khelif will fight for an Olympic gold medal after winning her semi-final in the women’s 66kg in Paris. The boxer, who is at the centre of controversy after previously failing a gender test last year, won by unanimous decision against Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng.
Khelif was dominant against Suwannapheng, with all five judges believing she had got the better of the eighth-seed. The 25-year-old jubilantly performed a jig as her victory and passage into the final was sealed with a lift of the referee’s arm.
Khelif will fight it out for gold on Friday evening, and she will be heavily backed from the Algerian fans. She received huge support from those watching inside Roland Garros, the tennis venue which has been repurposed for the medal boxing bouts at the Olympics. Khelif, wearing blue, walked to the ring to enormous cheers.
The reaction outside of the ring to Khelif’s success has been much more mixed. The Algerian fighter reportedly possesses higher testosterone levels than the average woman. Her first-round opponent, Angela Carini, withdrew from their fight after just 46 seconds, claiming she had never been punched so hard in her career.
Khelif was disqualified from last year’s world championship after failing a gender test laid on by the International Boxing Association. The International Olympic Committee disassociated itself from the IBA last year, but the IBA’s president, Umar Kremlev, allegedly claimed that that Khelif’s test displayed XY chromosomes – most often found in men.
But no evidence has ever been put forward. Khelif was born female in Algeria and her dad provided documents last week to prove that fact.
Khelif celebrated her second-round victory over Luca Hamori by screaming: “I am a woman.”
She believes she has been the victim of bullying and said in an interview over the weekend: “I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects.
“It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”
Khelif, who has lost nine fights during her career, now has the opportunity to win Olympic gold in Paris.