Boxer Imane Khelif Clinches Medal Amid Olympic Eligibility Fight
Imane Khelif of Algeria, the boxer at the center of a controversy involving eligibility and fairness that has made the women’s boxing tournament at the Paris Olympics a cultural flashpoint, advanced to the semifinals in her weight class on Saturday.
The result guaranteed that Khelif, 25, will leave the Games with her first Olympic medal. But it also ensured that the furor over her participation will continue.
Khelif and another fighter, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, have come under intense scrutiny in recent days because they were barred from last year’s world championships, organized by the Russian-led International Boxing Association, after a ruling that questioned their eligibility to compete in a women’s event.
The International Olympic Committee, which is overseeing the boxing competition in Paris after it revoked the I.B.A.’s authority, called the decision “arbitrary.” In recent days, the I.O.C. has strongly supported the boxers by stating flatly and repeatedly that they are women and not transgender.
“We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman,” the I.O.C. president, Thomas Bach, told reporters on Saturday. “This is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman.”
On Saturday, Khelif defeated Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary via unanimous decision, aggressively striking her opponent and at times clinching her to the ground during their bout in the 66-kilogram (145.5-pound) weight class.
Moments after the result was announced, Khelif shared a brief but cordial exchange with Hamori and dropped to her knees and slapped the ring’s canvas. She was in tears before she even returned to her corner, though, and was soon resting her head on the shoulder of a coach. The coach shouted that she had been unfairly treated as he led her down the stairs and away from the ring.
Minutes later, and still crying, Khelif gave a brief but impassioned defense of herself to a small group of journalists.
“I have been boxing for years in the International Boxing Association which has committed an injustice toward me,” she said. “But I have Allah by my side.”
The emotional reaction capped a tumultuous week for Khelif. Her first fight in Paris ended after only 46 seconds after her opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, withdrew after sustaining a powerful blow to the face.
Carini has since apologized to Khelif and said that she respected the I.O.C.’s decision to allow her to compete.
“All this controversy certainly made me sad, and I also felt sorry for my opponent, she had nothing to do with it and like me was only here to fight,” Carini told an Italian news outlet.
Carini addressed Khelif directly in a video posted online late Friday, wishing her luck at the Games. “Hi Imane,” Carini began, “I hope you make it to the finals and that you win the Olympics.”
Lin, who won her fight on Friday to advance to the quarterfinals, can clinch her own medal when she faces Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria in the women’s 57-kilogram (125-pound) weight class on Sunday. Boxing awards two bronze medals in every weight class, so every semifinalist is assured a medal. This year, with a reduced field, some athletes have advanced that far with only two victories.
Khelif received warm applause from the large contingent of Algerian fans who cheered gleefully and waved the country’s green-white-and-red flag when she emerged inside a packed arena in a northern suburb of Paris.
Hamori and Khelif touched gloves before the bout and in between rounds in a sign of good sportsmanship, and then had a brief conversation afterward.
Hamori said the fight was “hard” and she was proud of herself. “I am so happy and I wish good luck to my opponents and the others in the finals,” she said.
Aida Alami contributed reporting.
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