Boxer Imane Khelif advances to gold medal fight after another win amid gender controversy

PARIS (AP) — Algerian Imane Khelif advanced Tuesday night to fight for the gold medal in the ladies’s welterweight division on the Paris Olympics, moving one win away from what she calls the most effective response to the worldwide criticism she has faced due to misconceptions about her gender.

Had she won another victory, Khelif would have won Algeria’s second boxing gold medal and first in women’s boxing.

Khelif beat Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand 5-0 within the semifinals of Roland Garros, with the gang roaring for her and chanting her name repeatedly throughout her three-round bout. Khelif has won three straight matches in Paris and can win a gold or silver medal when she finishes the tournament Friday against Yang Liu of China.

Khelif has flourished within the Paris ring amid criticism and stigmatization outside it. The problems stem from the choice by the International Boxing Federation, which has been banned from the Olympics, to disqualify her and fellow Paris medalist Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei from last yr’s world championships for allegedly failing a qualifying test.

The controversy has turn into certainly one of the most important stories of the Paris Olympics, but it surely has not had a negative impact on her performance within the ring.

“I don’t care,” Khelif said through an interpreter. “I want to be ready and show a good level, show my talent, because I want to entertain everyone.”

Khelif had already won Algeria’s first medal in women’s boxing before she entered the ring, drawing a thunderous applause from Court Philippe Chatrier. She then controlled the fight against Suwannapheng, who took an eight-point lead by the top of the third round after absorbing a series of punches.

“I heard about the news about her, but I didn’t follow it closely,” Suwannapheng said. “She is a woman, but she is very strong.”

Khelif won every round on every judge’s card in her two fights, which went all the best way to the finish in Paris. She got here into a very powerful tournament of her international profession under probably the most pressure she has ever faced.

“I am very happy,” Khelif said. “I have worked eight years for these Olympic Games and I am very proud of this moment. I would like to thank the support of the people at home.”

The ending of Khelif’s first fight in Paris put her at the middle of a world divide over gender identity and safety regulations in sports. Her first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, tearfully pulled out after just 46 seconds, saying she was in an excessive amount of pain from Khelif’s punches.

Carini’s abandonment of the fight led to comments from former US President Donald Trump, Harry Potter creator JK Rowling and others who falsely claimed Khelif was a person or transgender. Carini later apologized for her decision.

In an interview Sunday with SNTV, The Associated Press’ sports video partner, Khelif said the wave of hatred she faces “hurts human dignity” and called for an end to intimidation of athletes.

Featured Stories

Khelif also said she believes the “best response” to the commotion surrounding her can be to win a gold medal — and he or she is now one win away from doing so.

After embracing Suwannapheng and holding the ropes for her opponent in a conventional show of boxing sportsmanship, Khelif celebrated by running furiously in place and pumping her fists as the gang roared for her again. The celebration was more joyful than her cathartic ending to her quarterfinal victory over Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori, when she slammed her hand down on the canvas and cried.

Khelif underwent a post-fight medical and was leaving the Roland Garros arena when she was surrounded by fans near the exit. They hugged Khelif, demanded selfies and waved Algerian flags as she walked backstage.

Khelif received cheers that echoed through the famous tennis arena from the moment she entered to face Suwannapheng. Roland Garros welcomed a big turnout of Algerian fans expressing their national pride in a boxer whose negative highlight has been taken very personally in her country.

Both fighters got here out aggressively, trading blows from distance, with Khelif more accurate, winning the primary round on all five cards, and repeating the feat within the second.

The fight became more physical within the third round, with Suwannapheng pushing forward to mount a comeback. The fight was stopped standing on the count of 8 late within the third round when Suwannapheng took several headbutts in a row, although Suwannapheng seemed to shrug it off as if it wasn’t essential — as is commonly the case in Olympic boxing, where referees can stop a fight for relatively minor reasons.

“I tried to use my speed, but my opponent was just too strong,” Suwannapheng said.

Khelif, 25, is in the most effective type of her amateur profession on the Olympics. She has had solid international showings and even won a couple of regional tournaments, but Khelif was never a dominant player on the world stage until her two strong performances — and 46 seconds of easy motion against a 3rd — that helped her reach the ultimate in Paris.

The IOC and its president Thomas Bach have repeatedly defended Khelifa and Lin’s qualifications for the Olympic Games while condemning the IBA as an incompetent and biased organization.

Khelif and Lin were disqualified by the IBA eventually yr’s world championships due to what it said were failed qualifying tests for the ladies’s event. The IBA was banned from the Olympics before the Tokyo Games, and the organization struggled to explain the explanations for its decisions within the Khelif and Lin cases at a news conference Monday.

Lin also won a medal and advanced to the Olympic semifinals. She will face Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey on Wednesday evening.

The Algerian Olympic team has responded strongly to the criticism and negative attention surrounding Khelif, and the turnout at Roland Garros was evidence of the seriousness with which the accusations have been taken in her homeland and among the many French diaspora.

Chinese Taipei responded with equal condemnation of the IBA’s claims and the worldwide scrutiny whirlwind. Sports officials said Tuesday they were considering legal motion against the IBA after sending a letter protesting the International Boxing Association’s “continuous publication of false information, obfuscation of facts and attempts to disrupt the normal course of the event without regard to the rights and interests of athletes.”