Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has advanced to the gold medal bout in the women’s welterweight division at the Paris Olympics, a fight she describes as the best response to global scrutiny and misconceptions about her gender.
With another victory, Khelif will secure Algeria’s second boxing gold medal and the first in women’s boxing. She defeated Thailand’s Janjaiem Suwannafeng 5-0 in the semifinals at Roland Garros, where the audience roared and chanted her name throughout their three-round fight. Khelif has won three consecutive bouts in Paris and will either win gold or silver when she finishes the tournament against China’s Yang Liu on Friday.
“I am very happy,” Khelif said through an interpreter. “I have worked for eight years for these Olympic Games, and I am very proud at this moment. I want to thank the people at home for their support.”
Before entering the ring to loud cheers at the Philippe-Chatrier Court, Khelif had already won Algeria’s first medal in women’s boxing. She then controlled her fight with Suwannafeng, who was counted out at 8 until the end of the third round and absorbed multiple blows in the series.
“My opponent was really good,” Khelif said. “But I trained for two weeks and learned how to fight through video.”
Khelif won each round in her two bouts in Paris on every judge’s card. Amid criticism and stigma following the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) decision to ban Olympic participation, she faced the most important tournament of her international career and was disqualified along with last year’s world championship winner Lin Yu-ting due to allegations of failing a qualification test.
“I heard news about it, but I didn’t follow it closely,” Suwannafeng said. “She is a woman, but she is very strong.”
The culmination of Khelif’s first fight in Paris thrust her into the global spotlight on gender identity and safety in sports. Her first opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, exited in tears just 46 seconds into the bout, stating that she was in too much pain from Khelif’s punches.
Carini’s withdrawal led to comments from figures like former U.S. President Donald Trump and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, who falsely claimed Khelif was a man or transgender. Carini later apologized for her decision.
In an interview with SNTV on Sunday, Khelif stated that facing waves of hatred was “a blow to human dignity” and called for an end to athlete harassment.
Khelif also mentioned that winning the gold medal would be the “best response” to the publicity surrounding her, and she is now one win away.
After sharing an embrace with Suwannafeng, Khelif celebrated in the ring, pumping her fists in joy as the crowd roared once again. The celebration was more euphoric than her cathartic finish in the quarterfinals against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori, where she cried and pressed her palms onto the canvas.
Khelif took part in post-fight medical treatment and was mobbed by fans as she exited the Roland Garros Stadium. They embraced her, took selfies, and waved Algerian flags as she walked off the stage.
From the moment she faced Suwannafeng, the cheers reverberated through the famous tennis stadium. Roland Garros received a significant vote of support from Algerian fans who expressed national pride in a boxer facing considerable negative attention in her country.
Both fighters started aggressively, exchanging blows from a distance. Khelif was more precise in the first round, winning on all five cards, and repeated the performance in the second round.
The fight became more physical in the third, with Suwannafeng pressing forward for a comeback. The bout was halted during an 8-count towards the end of the third round when Suwannafeng absorbed several blows to the head in succession, although Suwannafeng ended it in a manner suggesting it wasn’t necessary, as often happens in Olympic boxing where referees may stop a fight for relatively minor reasons.
“I tried to use my speed, but my opponent was very strong,” Suwannafeng said.
The 25-year-old Khelif is on her best streak in amateur boxing at the Olympics. She has had impressive performances internationally and won several regional tournaments, but it wasn’t until her two strong performances in Paris (and a 46-second easy win in the third) that she became a dominant fighter on the world stage.
The IOC and its president, Thomas Bach, have repeatedly defended Khelif and Lin’s Olympic eligibility while condemning the IBA for being disqualified and biased.
Khelif and Lin were declared ineligible by the IBA midway through last year’s World Championships, which claimed they failed the qualification test for women’s competitions. The IBA has been banned from the Olympics since before the Tokyo Games, and the organization struggled to present its rationale for its decisions about Khelif and Lin at a press conference on Monday.
Lin has also won a medal and reached the Olympic semifinals. On Wednesday night, she will fight Turkey’s Esra Ildiz Kahraman.
Algeria’s Olympic team has responded strongly to the criticism and negative attention surrounding Khelif, and the presence of Roland Garros fans reflected the seriousness of the complaints in her home country and among her French diaspora.
Chinese Taipei has responded to the IBA’s claims and global scrutiny with similar condemnation. Sports officials said Tuesday they are considering legal action against the IBA after sending a letter protesting the “continued dissemination of false information by the International Boxing Association, obscuring the facts and attempting to interfere with the normal conduct of the event regardless of rights.”
