Algerian Imane Khelif took the Olympic gold medal in the welterweight division at the Paris Games on Friday by unanimous decision over Yang Liu of China. The 25-year-old Khelif, who was a silver medallist at the 2022 World Championships, became the first Algerian woman to win an Olympic boxing title and the first from her country to take gold since Hocine Soltani in 1996.
This win by Khelif raises the stakes in an ongoing publicized gender controversy between her and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting. Her win at Paris, where the International Olympic Committee applied the older rules that did not include gender tests, after being disqualified for the 2023 World Championships by the International Boxing Association due to issues surrounding gender testing, has been received very positively.
Addressing the controversy, Khelif said, “I am a woman like any woman. I was born a woman and I have lived as a woman. This gold medal is the best answer to the fierce campaign against me.”
Its opponent Yang Liu showed respect and admiration for Khelif. Thai boxer Janjaem Suwannapheng and Taiwan’s Chen Nien-chin both took bronze.
