Paris Olympics: Imane Khelif, boxer engulfed in gender controversy throughout Games, wins gold

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PARIS — Algeria’s Imane Khelif won the gold medal in 66kg women’s boxing finals, capping a whirlwind Olympics that found her in the middle of global controversy over her gender. She defeated China’s Liu Yang in a unanimous decision.

A sizable Algerian crowd roared their approval, chanting “I-MANE, I-MANE” and nearly blowing the roof off Roland-Garros, the tennis facility being used for the medal rounds of the boxing tournament.

The fans had been vocal throughout, offering encouragement and waving Algerian flags in support of the 25-year-old. They celebrated each combination before cheering the end-of-round results.

Khelif was dominant against Liu, who was a game fighter who often took the attack to Khelif. The two boxers repeatedly tapped gloves and offered mutual respect to each other, even hugging at the end.

Khelif won all five scorecards in the first two rounds to all but guarantee victory.

After the decision, Khelif was carried around the stadium floor on the shoulders of her coaches, and Algerian fans again went wild.

Inside the center court stadium, with its roof closed, there was no hint of the controversy that had overwhelmed the Paris Olympics after her opening-round opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, quit after just 46 seconds and declared Khelif too strong.

The International Boxing Association had disqualified Khelif and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting from the 2023 World Championships after declaring that a test administered to them revealed they have XY chromosomes.

The IOC, however, said both women have cleared all the standards to compete here in Paris. Yu-ting will fight for gold in the 57kg division Saturday.

Confusion and controversy immediately raged, especially on social media around the globe.

Numerous opportunists and politicians likened the two women’s participation as a transgender issue. Both fighters have been female since birth and have always fought as females. They have never identified as men.

“This is not a transgender case,” Mark Adams of the IOC declared repeatedly. “There has been some confusion that this is a man fighting a woman. This is just not the case. On that there is consensus. Scientifically this is not a man fighting a woman.”

Both women have fought on the international circuit for years, including the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Neither has been dominant before this.

The IOC was slow to make the case that the women deserved to be able to fight. It previously stripped the IBA of its ability to oversee boxing at the Olympics due to corruption and judging controversies. Additionally, the IBA has significant ties to Russia, which is also banned from the Olympics and is not above sowing discord in the Paris Games.

That does not mean the IBA’s tests are necessarily wrong; there is just not much information to go on. The IBA has not released the full findings.

It is possible for someone to be born with female genitalia and have XY chromosomes. Whether that is the case with these fighters is not known, but that would be the far more likely explanation if the IBA test results are, in fact, valid. That doesn’t stir up passions, though, like declaring this a transgender issue.

Algeria is an Arab country located in North Africa that is 99 percent Islamic.

Khelif said after her semifinal victory that she appreciated the continued support of Algerians and had spent most of the Games trying to ignore all of the chatter and vitriol around her.

“I don’t look for anything said about me within the controversy,” she said. “What’s important is to be on the level and give a performance because I’m a talented person. I just do my best, and the people enjoy what they are watching.”