Boxer Imane Khelif fights for gold to cap an Olympics filled with misinformed scrutiny

PARIS (AP) — Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is one victory away from wrapping up her tumultuous Paris Olympics with a gold medal around her neck — a potential prize that she has called the best response to a cascade of online abuse she has endured over misconceptions about her sex.

Khelif is fighting Yang Liu of China on Friday night in the final of the women’s welterweight division at Roland Garros, where the crowd waved Algerian flags, roared for Khelif every time she landed a punch and chanted, “Imane, Imane, Imane!” Khelif has yet to lose one round on a judge’s scorecard in her first three fights in Paris, going on the most dominant run of her boxing career while facing an extraordinary amount of scrutiny.

It stems from Khelif and fellow two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan getting disqualified from last year’s world championships by the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, which claims both fighters failed a murky eligibility test for women’s competition.

The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step last year of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics following years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. The IOC has called the arbitrary sex tests that the sport’s governing body imposed on the two boxers irretrievably flawed.

The IBA did nothing to help its argument this week at a shambolic news conference in which its leadership contradicted itself about the tests and declined to answer basic questions about them, citing privacy concerns from the Olympic committees of Algeria and Taiwan.

The IOC has repeatedly reaffirmed the two boxers’ right to compete in Paris, with President Thomas Bach personally defending Khelif and Lin while calling the criticism “hate speech.”

“We have two boxers who are born as women, who have been raised as women, who have a passport as a woman and have competed for many years as women,” Bach said.

That hasn’t stopped the international outcry tied to misconceptions around the fighters that has been amplified by Russian disinformation networks, but neither has it slowed the two.

Khelif has dominated all three of her bouts, but she faces her most significant test in Yang, the 2023 world champion and the No. 2 seed in their weight class.

Khelif told SNTV, a sport video partner of The Associated Press, that the wave of hateful scrutiny she has received “harms human dignity,” and she called for an end to bullying athletes. She also said a gold medal would be ”the best response” to the backlash against her.

The crowds in Paris have embraced both Khelif and Lin, who have heard nothing but cheers during their bouts. Hundreds of flag-clad, noise-making supporters of Khelif crowded the paths through the famed Roland Garros tennis complex on Friday and packed the stands, chanting, cheering and waving Algerian flags.

She’s also become a hometown hero in her North African country, where Khelif’s fight was dubbed “The Night of Destiny” in local newspapers. Projection screens to watch the bout were set up in public squares throughout Algiers and other cities. In the city of Tiaret in the region where Khelif is from, workers braved scorching summer heat to paint a mural of Khelif on the gym where she learned to box.

“Imane has managed to turn the criticism and attacks on her femininity into fuel,” said Mustapha Bensaou of the Tiaret gym. “The slander has given her a boost. … It’s a bit of a blessing in disguise.”

Khelif has already secured Algeria’s first Olympic medal in women’s boxing. She will attempt to become only her country’s second boxing gold medalist, joining Hocine Soltani (1996).

The gold medal fight is the culmination of Khelif’s nine-day run through an Olympic tournament that began with a bizarre event. Khelif’s first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, abandoned their bout after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khelif’s punches.

An already brewing story suddenly became major international news, with the likes of former U.S. President Donald Trump and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling weighing in with criticism and false speculation about men competing with women in sports. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni personally visited with Carini to share her condolences and to cast doubt on Khelif’s eligibility.

Carini later said she regretted her actions and wished to apologize to Khelif. The Italian newspaper La Stampa detailed Carini’s mindset in the days leading up to the bout, describing pressure from both inside and outside her team to avoid the fight amid the growing speculation over Khelif’s status.

The IBA later offered to pay winner’s bonuses to Carini and the Italian Boxing Federation despite Carini’s abandonment of the bout. The Italian federation and Carini both rejected the money from the IBA, which volunteered the payments to all Paris winners and their teams despite having nothing to do with the Olympics.

Lin also fights for a gold medal Saturday on the final card of the Olympics. She takes on Julia Szeremeta of Poland with a chance to win Taiwan’s first boxing gold.

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Associated Press reporter Alanis Thames in Paris contributed.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games