Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has advanced to the final bout, and she will have a chance to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On Tuesday night, Khelif won her semi-final match against Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand unanimously. Khelif will now compete in the final round of the women’s 66-kilogram division on Friday, where she will win a gold or silver medal.
Khelif’s time at the Olympics has been clouded by controversy by people questioning her gender. The boxer has always identified as a woman, and the confusion lies in the boxer being disqualified by the International Boxing Association last year for allegedly having XY chromosomes. However, the IOC disputed those claims and allowed Khelif to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics as she did in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
In an interview recently, Khelif opened up about the controversy surrounding her gender.
“I am sending a message to all people in the world to uphold the Olympic values and the Olympic regulations and stop bullying all athletes because this bullying has big effects,” she told SNTV in an interview. “It can destroy people and kill their thoughts, their spirit and their mind. Bullying can cause division and because of all this I am asking them to stop bullying.”
The IOC also addressed the controversy saying, “The Algerian Boxer was born female, was registered female, her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport. This is not a transgender case… there has been some confusion, that somehow it’s a man fighting a woman. This is just not the case, scientifically on that there is consensus. Scientifically, this is not a man fighting a woman. And I think we need to kind of get that out.”
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