‘I am a woman’: Imane Khelif hits back in gender row after claiming gold
After a fortnight surrounded by a gender-row controversy, Imane Khelif became an Olympic gold medallist for the first time as she defeated the world champion Yang Liu of China in the women’s 66kg category by unanimous decision.
The greatest victory of the 25-year-old’s career was sealed in jubilant scenes at Roland Garros as the Algerian diaspora showed up in numbers, filling out Court Philippe-Chatrier and raucously supporting her for every second of the gold medal bout. Khelif is Algeria’s first Olympic gold medallist in women’s boxing and their first boxer overall to win gold since 1996.
“As for whether I qualify or not, whether I am a woman or not, I have made many statements in the media,” Khelif said after her victory. “I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman, I lived a woman, I competed as a woman, there’s no doubt about that. [The detractors] are enemies of success, that is what I call them. And that also gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.”
This story was first published by Antigua News on August 10, 2024: antigua.news/2024/08/10/i-am-a-woman-imane-khelif-hits-back-in-gender-row-after-claiming-gold. © 2024 Antigua News. Republication without permission is not allowed.
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Alex August 10, 2024, 10:44 AM