After being surrounded by the raging gender row controversy, Algeria’s Imane Khelif won the gold medal as she defeated the world champion Yang Liu of China at the Paris Olympics 2024. She became the gold medallist in the women’s 66kg category by a unanimous decision. Khelif finally broke her silence on the controversy and said that she was born and raised like a woman. The 25-year-old is Algeria’s first Olympic gold medallist in women’s boxing and their first overall boxer to win a gold medal since 1996.
“As for whether I qualify or not, whether I am a woman or not, I have made many statements in the media,” Khelif said after her victory. “I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman, I lived a woman, I competed as a woman, there’s no doubt about that. [The detractors] are enemies of success, that is what I call them. And that also gives my success a special taste because of these attacks,” Khelif told the media after her win.
Imane Khelif was subjected to intense scrutiny on social media, with people questioning her womanhood as well.
“My honour is intact now,” Khelif said. “But the attacks that I heard in social media were extremely bad and they are meaningless and they impact the dignity of people and I think that now people’s thinking has changed.
Imane Khelif was subjected to intense scrutiny on social media, with people questioning her womanhood as well.
“My honour is intact now,” Khelif said. “But the attacks that I heard in social media were extremely bad and they are meaningless and they impact the dignity of people and I think that now people’s thinking has changed.
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