Boxer Imane Khelif Wins Gold Medal at the Paris Olympics

Khelif’s win follows the intense online scrutiny she faced after her first win at the Summer Games over Italy’s Angela Carini

Imane Khelif. Photo: Richard Pelham/Getty

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is officially an Olympic gold medalist! During the match on Friday, Aug. 9, Khelif defeated China’s Yang Liu to earn a spot atop of the podium.

After several bouts where she came out the winner, Khelif advanced to the semifinal at Roland-Garros Stadium on Aug. 6, guaranteeing her at least a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Games. During Thursday’s fight, she overcame Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng 5-0.

She then moved onto the final on Friday, where she faced off against Liu, winning the first round 10-9 and then taking the second before holding onto her lead to finish out the match.

Following her win, Khelif spoke during a press conference about becoming a medalist — especially amid controversy that has surrounded her since her first match against Italy’s Angela Carini.

 “IMANE KHELIF GOLD MEDAL ! Algerian women continue to make us proud #Olympics #Paris2024,” the Algeria FC account posted on X (formerly Twitter) following Khelif’s achievement. In a second post, they added: “🇩🇿🥇 To all the haters all around the world .. Imene Khelif says 🤫”

Imane Khelif.Richard Pelham/Getty

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On Sunday, Aug. 4, prior to securing her medal this week, the Algerian boxer, 25, called for people to refrain from “bullying” athletes in an interview with SNTV, a sports video partner of the Associated Press.

“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects,” Khelif told the outlet.

“It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying,” the boxer continued.

Khelif’s statements followed the intense controversy and online scrutiny during her match with Carini who bowed out just 46 seconds into their match on Thursday, Aug. 1. Carini, 25, exited the ring, citing an injury, according to the Associated Press and Reuters.

Per the AP, Khelif was disqualified during the 2023 boxing world championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test. The International Boxing Association (IBA) claimed that the results showed elevated levels of testosterone, with the matter becoming a divisive issue for the 25-year-old boxer ahead of the Summer Games.

However, the test results were not transparent, and the IBA has since been suspended from being part of the IOC due to questions about corruption and judging issues, according to ESPN.

Per the International Olympic Committee’s standards, Khelif is an eligible female boxer — and therefore allowed to compete in the Games. “Khelif was assigned female at birth and it says so on her passport, which is the International Olympic Committee’s threshold for eligibility for boxing,” according to AP.

Carini has since apologized after failing to shake Khelif’s hand after her opponent had been declared the winner. “All this controversy certainly made me sad, and I also felt sorry for my opponent, she had nothing to do with it and like me was only here to fight,” Carini told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Clarifying why she didn’t shake Khelif’s hand after the match, Carini stated, “It was not intentional, in fact, I apologize to her and to everyone. I was angry because my Games had already gone up in smoke.” She added, “I have nothing against Khelif and on the contrary, if I happened to meet her again I would give her a hug.”

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