Boxer Imane Khelif fights for gold to close Olympics riddled with misinformed criticism

PARIS (AP) — Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is one victory away from ending her tumultuous Paris Olympics with a gold medal around her neck – a potential prize she calls the best response to a barrage of online abuse she has endured in recent years. misconceptions about her sex.

Khelif will fight China’s Yang Liu on Friday evening in the final of the women’s welterweight division at Roland Garros. Khelif hasn’t lost yet one round on a judge’s scorecard in her first three fights in Paris, and she went through the most dominant run of her boxing career while facing a extraordinary amount of control.

It comes from Khelif and his two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting from Taiwan being disqualified from last year’s world championships by the Russian Dominated International Boxing Federationwho claims both fighters failed an unclear entry test for the women’s competition.

The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step last year to the permanent banning of the IBA from the Olympic Games after years of concerns about governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. The IOC has dismissed the arbitrary sex tests the sport’s governing body imposed on the two boxers, irreparably defective.

The IBA has done nothing this week to support its argument at a chaotic press conference in which management contradicted itself about the tests and refused to answer basic questions about them, citing privacy concerns from the Olympic committees of Algeria and Taiwan.

The IOC has repeatedly affirmed the right of the two boxers to compete in Paris, with Chairman Thomas Bach personally defending Khelif and Lin, calling the criticism “hate speech.”

“We have two boxers who were born as women, who were raised as women, who have a female passport and who have competed as women for many years,” Bach said.

That has not stopped international outrage over misconceptions about the fighters. amplified by Russian disinformation networksbut it hasn’t slowed the two down either.

Khelif has dominated all three of her bouts, but her main test awaits with Yang, the 2023 world champion and the number 2 in their weight class.

Khelif told SNTV, a sports video partner of The Associated Press, that the wave of hateful control she has received “harms human dignity,” and she called for an end to bullying of athletes. She also said that a gold medal would be “the best response” to the backlash against her.

The crowd in Paris, however, has embraced both Khelif and Lin, who have heard nothing but cheers during their fights. A large contingent of flag-waving Algerian fans greeted and serenaded Khelif during her semi-final victory on Tuesday night, and she is Become a local hero in her North African country.

Khelif has already secured Algeria’s first Olympic medal in women’s boxing. She will be trying to become her country’s second gold medalist, after Hocine Soltani (1996).

The gold medal battle is the highlight of Khelif’s nine-day run through an Olympic tournament that started with a bizarre eventKhelif’s first opponent, Italian Angela Carini, gave up the match after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khelif’s punches.

An already simmering story suddenly became major international news, with the likes of former U.S. President Donald Trump and “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling voicing criticism and false speculation about men competing with women in sports. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni personally visited Carini to offer her condolences and cast doubt on Khelif’s suitability.

Carini later said she regretted her actions and wanted to apologize to Khelif. The Italian newspaper La Stampa describes Carini’s mentality in the days leading up to the match, describing the pressure felt both within and outside her team to avoid the match amid growing speculation about Khelif’s status.

The IBA later offered to pay winner bonuses to Carini and the Italian Boxing Federation, despite Carini’s withdrawal from the competition. The Italian Federation and Carini have both rejected the money from the IBA, which has voluntarily made the payments to all the Paris winners and their teams, despite having nothing to do with the Olympics.

Lin also fights for a gold medal on Saturday’s final card of the Olympics, taking on Poland’s Julia Szeremeta for a chance to win Taiwan’s first boxing gold.

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