Controversial Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has issued a strong statement, hitting back at her detractors after striking gold in the women's 66 KG Boxing event in the Paris 2024 Olympics. The 25-year-old declared that she is a woman and that the win gives her a special taste, given it has come in the face of all the criticism.
Khelif has been in the spotlight for the gender controversy that emerged after Angela Carini withdrew only 46 seconds after the match began with the Algerian. With Khelif failing a gender test last year during the World Championships, the IOC has been called into question on how she was allowed to compete in the Olympics.
Nevertheless, Khelif has repeatedly asserted that she is a woman. Having beaten China's Yang Liu for gold, the 25-year-old stated after the match, as quoted by The Guardian:
"As for whether I qualify or not, whether I am a woman or not, I have made many statements in the media. 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."
"The attacks that I heard in social media were extremely bad" - Imane Khelif
Khelif admitted that the comments on social media affected her, but feels her dignity is intact, now that she has won gold.
"My honour is intact now. But the attacks that I heard in social media were extremely bad and they are meaningless and they impact the dignity of people and I think that now people’s thinking has changed. As for the IBA, since 2018 I have been boxing under their umbrella. They know me very well, they know what I’m capable of, they know how I’ve developed over the years but now they are not recognised any more."
