NBC News reports:
Algerian Imane Khelif won welterweight gold on Friday, dispatching China’s Yang Liu and overcoming more than a week of opponents wrongly questioning her gender. Khelif won in a unanimous decision as a large Algerian crowd at Roland-Garros Stadium cheered her on with chants of “allez Imane” and “1, 2, 3 Algérie!”
Despite those false allegations from the Russian-led International Boxing Association, Khelif was backed by throngs of Algerian fans who filled much of Roland-Garros Stadium and have rallied to her side this week.
Both the IOC, which has declared Khelif and Lin eligible due to genders on their passports, and USA Boxing have cut ties with the IBA, last year, before much of the sporting world came to know Khelif and Lin.
The Washington Post reports:
Umar Kremlev, the Russian sports minister who runs the IBA, and other IBA officials have said the tests showed the women, who are not transgender, have XY chromosomes, suggesting they held a testosterone-based advantage over other women, who typically have XX chromosomes.
The IBA has not produced proof of the test results, including during a Paris news conference earlier in the week. The International Olympic Committee has rejected those claims and stood by the boxers.
Criticism of the two women exploded last week after Italian boxer Angela Carini quit her round-of-16 fight with Khelif less than a minute into the bout after taking a punch to the face. Attacks followed, including from former president Donald Trump, author J.K. Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk.
The cult is screaming on X. Again.
🇩🇿🥇 IMANE KHELIF GOLD MEDAL !
Algerian women continue to make us proud #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/xYe4eMGHWI
— Algeria FC (@Algeria_FC) August 9, 2024
#Gold medal for Algeria! 🇩🇿
Congratulations to Imane Khelif, clinching first place in boxing women’s 66kg. 🥊#Boxing | #Paris2024 | #Samsung | #TogetherforTomorrow pic.twitter.com/KRx4BnmFDN
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 9, 2024
IMANE KHELIF IS AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST! 🥇👏#paris2024 pic.twitter.com/U0Mqe1Su94
— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 9, 2024
Imane Khelif was born a woman from Algeria, where being gay or transgender is a crime. She was cleared to fight at the Olympics by the International Olympic Committee.
The amount of hate and transphobia she’s facing is vile, baseless, and harmful to her life. She’s a woman. pic.twitter.com/eZrk0SGuSM
— Women Posting W’s (@womenpostingws) August 1, 2024
This is Imane Khelif as a child, she is NOT transgender and is biologically a female. Algeria has laws prohibiting transitioning and homosexuality. pic.twitter.com/ACgBLK8NzB
— summer 🇵🇸 (@summersaying) August 1, 2024