Imane Kelif’s journey amid gender controversy: From being trolled as ‘male’ to winning Olympic gold

Algerian female boxer Imane Khelif on Friday won a historic gold medal at the Paris Olympics. The boxer, who faced huge scrutiny and online trolling amid a massive gender row, defeated Yang Liu of China in the final of the women’s welterweight division. 

After clinching the Olympic gold, Khelif's message was loud and clear: “I am a woman like any woman. I was born a woman, and I have lived as a woman, but there are enemies to success, and they can't digest my success.”

‘Gives special taste to my success’: Khelif on gender row controversy

Khelif defeated Yang Liu by 5:0 in the final of the women's welterweight division. Amid strong criticism surrounding her gender, Khelif emerged stronger and wrapped up the boxing final match with one of the best series of fights of her boxing career with a victory at Roland Garros. 

Commenting on the repeated attacks on her amid gender row, Imane Khelif said, "That also gives my success a special taste because of those attacks.”

‘Hope to not see similar attacks in future Olympics’: Khelif

“For eight years, this has been my dream, and I'm now the Olympic champion and gold medalist,” AP quoted Khelif as saying.

“We are in the Olympics to perform as athletes, and I hope that we will not see any similar attacks in future Olympics,” she said.

Last year, Khelif and two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan were disqualified by the International Boxing Association after they failed to clear an eligibility test for women's competition that IBA officials have not answered basic questions about.

“I'm fully qualified to participate in this competition,” Khelif said Friday. “I'm a woman like any other woman. I was born as a woman, I live as a woman, and I am qualified."

Imane Khelif and Li Yu-ting were allowed to participate in the latest Summer Games edition after the International Boxing Association was prohibited from the Olympics following years of concerns about its governance, fairness, and financial transparency. 

Amid the controversy surrounding Khelif's gender, IOA has remained a vocal supporter of the female boxer and criticised the massive online trolling of the Olympic gold medallist. The IOA has also criticised the arbitrary sex tests that the sport's governing body imposed on the two boxers as irretrievably flawed.