PARIS | “I want to say to the whole world, to those who were against me and who waged a savage campaign against me. Here is my answer: an Olympic medal. I am a strong woman, a woman who has a special strength […] I won the gold medal.”
This is what boxer Imane Khelif said a few minutes after winning the gold medal on the main court at Roland-Garros on Friday evening in Paris.
The 25-year-old Algerian defeated reigning world champion Yang Liu of China by unanimous decision after the scheduled three rounds.
There was still a lot of excitement in the stadium closed for boxing, as soon as she was introduced for her fight. Algerian flags were everywhere. As soon as it starts, the crowd goes: Imane, Imane, Imane or Algeria, Algeria, Algeria.
From the opposition
From the first moments of the fight, we see that the Chinese boxer is agile and very athletic. Khelif is aggressive, but Liu dodges well. And Khelif receives a good left before backing off. For the first time in four fights, she really has opposition.
The Chinese woman goes all out with almost every attack. She doesn’t try to get close to the Algerian to limit the impact of her blows. But it’s risky and she pays the price. As soon as the Chinese woman misses the target, she takes a few punches and quietly, Khelif takes control of the fight.
In the second round, Khelif dominates again, but Liu doesn’t give up. I start to wonder if we’re going to make it to the third round. But no, Yang Liu is still standing and even starts to manage to hit Khelif a few times. The latter knows that it’s in the bag and simply repels the attacks. And there you have it, the third round ends. Khelif is jubilant, the stadium is jubilant.
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AFP
Chills
With a smile splitting from ear to ear and in tears, she took the time to savor her moment, making sure to show her gold medal to the many photographers and the whole world by suggesting that they take several pictures while giving dozens of kisses to her medal. It was hard not to get chills. Her coach took her on his shoulders to go around the stadium, with the thousands of fans who were getting closer.
It is obviously much more than a gold medal. It was a medal that divided the planet. It has become a matter of national pride for Algeria and much more.
“It was not easy. I would call it: the medal of honor for all Arabs […] I am unable to describe my joy to you. […] “It was my dream,” she said.
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AFP
“I’ve been bullied and campaigned hard. That’s my biggest response. The response has always been in the ring. […] “I made a war out of it,” Khelif also stressed to the beIN TV channel.
In the streets of Algiers, on the Place de la Grande Poste, it was madness. Videos were circulating on Friday evening to illustrate the monster celebrations.
Around the stadium in Paris, people were shouting in Arabic: “I am a woman and I am proud of it.”
“Neither Trump, nor Elon Musk, nor Meloni, nor the International Boxing Federation, nor the Italian, Hungarian and Thai boxers, nor even the Chinese world champion, nor all the tyrants and haters of politicians, athletes and celebrities. Rather, it is Imène, the Algerian woman, who has surpassed everyone, thanks to the grace of God and then by her effort, patience and steadfastness. Long live Algeria,” wrote Hafid Derradji, Algeria’s most popular sports commentator, on X, the platform owned by Elon Musk.
To the saga
Liu, 32, arrived in Paris feeling very pumped. She became world champion last year after… Imane Khelif was disqualified for failing a gender eligibility test conducted by the International Boxing Association (IBA). Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting suffered the same fate. The latter will fight for gold in another weight category on Saturday.
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But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not prevent the female boxers from fighting in Paris.
Because the IOC no longer recognizes the AIB.
Because the president of the AIB, a Russian oligarch, is suspected of wanting to destabilize the Paris Games. And he has not looked too good since the beginning of the Olympics by saying that everything was sodomy. Boxing at the Games is “overt sodomy”, the president of the IOC is “the head of sodomy”, the opening ceremony was “open sodomy”.
The AIB has never wanted to reveal precisely what the famous gender eligibility tests were despite numerous questions from the media. The IOC has had a lot of trouble taking these tests seriously. Khelif and Yu-Ting were born women, were raised as women, have always played sports with women and are women on their passports. They are therefore women and there has never been the slightest doubt about it, the IOC had to reaffirm this week.
The controversy had gained momentum on August 3 after Khelif’s first fight, which she won by knockout in 46 seconds against Italian Angela Carini. Khelif then easily defeated Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori and Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng by unanimous decisions. Khelif has 42 career wins, including 6 by knockout and 9 losses.
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AFP
Khelif’s opponent Yang Liu had a career record of 25 wins and 7 losses. She is one of the few Chinese athletes who hail from Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region within China, like Tibet. China has been accused of committing cultural genocide in the region, including by imposing Mandarin in schools instead of Mongolian. In the late 1960s, when Mao Zedong launched his Cultural Revolution, the autonomous region was invaded by Chinese authorities who arrested 346,000 people suspected of opposing the Chinese regime. Nearly 16,000 were killed and more than 81,000 were tortured and permanently disabled.
– With the collaboration of Taïeb Moalla
