In the quarterfinals of the boxing tournament in Paris, Imane Khelif of Algeria defeated Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary.
The fight was carried out despite online abuse aimed at the fighter, who was accused of being a man.
It was a bittersweet moment for Khelif, as she continues to be the target of speculations about her sexuality.
Angela Carini, a fellow fighter from Italy, was forced to withdraw from the match due to multiple heavy blows.
After the fight, she cried and said that she had never experienced such a hard experience in her life. Khelif’s supporters believe that her victory was due to her being a man.
The controversy surrounding Khelif’s sexuality has been around for a long time.
In 2015, she and Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu Ting were disqualified from the world championships due to an unspecified drug test.
During the Tokyo Olympics, Khelif lost in the quarterfinals. The IBA has since stated that the tests were not related to her testosterone levels.
Neither Khelif nor her family have publicly identified as transgender. However, her relatives claim that she was born a woman and has always been a woman.
According to Umar Kremlev, the president of the IBA, a DNA test revealed that the athletes had both male and female chromosomes.
The IBA was banned from the Olympics in 2019 due to financial problems.
Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC, accused the boxing association of Russia of orchestrating the allegations against Khelif and her opponent to ruin the Games’ reputation.
Only 15 Russian athletes are participating in the Paris Olympics. Many of them were banned from entering the event due to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
During a press briefing, Bach noted that the IOC was focused on the sport of women’s boxing.
He said that two female boxers were born as women and have been competing as women for a long time.