In a controversial event at the Paris Olympics, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was able to secure a spot in the final of the women’s 66kg category by defeating Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand.
The crowd at the Roland Garros erupted in support of her.
After the match, Khelif said that she was honored to be participating in the Olympics and that she was dedicated to achieving her dream.
One of the other boxer who was caught in the controversy over her eligibility was Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting. At the time, both of them were participating in the Tokyo Olympics.
Lin and Khelif were initially disqualified from the world championships last year due to their non-compliance with gender verification procedures.
They were eventually allowed to participate in the event in Paris.
Khelifi received a thunderous welcome as she made her way to the Roland Garros, which is usually home to grand slam tennis and is also the venue for Olympic boxing.
The fans at the event were very vocal about their support for Khelif. In the third round, Janjaem took a standing count due to her opponent’s height advantage.
After the match, which was held at the Court Philippe Chatrier, the two competitors shook hands and greeted each other.
After the fight, Khelif received a huge cheer from the crowd and danced in the middle of the arena.
She will face off against China’s Yang Liu for the gold. Liu defeated Chen Nien-chin of Taiwan in the semi-finals. After reaching the final, Khelif said she was focused only on her boxing and not on other matters.
Khelif expressed her joy at reaching the final and said that she was proud of what she had achieved.
She noted that she and her team had worked hard to achieve this. The defeated Thai also tried to play down the controversy surrounding her opponent.
The controversy started after Khelif won her first match in Paris, defeating Italian Angela Carini in just 46 seconds.
After suffering a nose injury, Carini stopped the fight. The event, which was held as the world championships for 2023, was handled by the International Boxing Federation.
However, due to various ethical and financial issues, the IOC was asked to oversee the event.
The IBA’s president, who is a Kremlin-connected individual, claimed during a press conference that the two fighters had undergone genetic testing that showed they were men.
The IOC then stood by the athletes, with president Thomas Bach stating that they were born women and have passports that indicated that they were.