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Boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria clinched a medal at the Paris Olympics in an emotional fight Sunday morning (AEST) that followed days of sharp scrutiny and online abuse as misconceptions about her gender exploded into a larger clash about identity in sports.
Khelif defeated Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary 5:0 in the quarterfinals of the women's 66kg division. Khelif will win at least a bronze medal after she comfortably earned the second victory of her tumultuous second trip to the Olympics.
Khelif faced outcry fuelled by claims from the International Boxing Association (IBA), which has been banned from the Olympics since 2019, that she failed an unspecified eligibility test to compete last year over elevated levels of testosterone.
She won her opening bout at the Paris Games on Thursday when opponent Angela Carini of Italy tearfully abandoned the fight after just 46 seconds.
That unusual ending became a sharp wedge to drive into an already prominent divide over gender identity and regulations in sports, drawing comments from the likes of former US President Donald Trump, Harry Potter writer J.K. Rowling, and others falsely claiming Khelif was a man or transgender.
At a Paris Games that has championed inclusion and seen other outcry over an opening ceremony performance featuring drag queens, LGBTQ+ groups say the hateful comments could pose dangers to their community and female athletes.
Khelif's second win in Paris appeared to be an emotional catharsis for the 25-year-old boxer from a village in north-west Algeria. After her hand was raised in victory, Khelif went to the centre of the ring, waved to her fans, knelt and then slammed her palm on the canvas, her smile turning to tears.
She left the ring to hug her coaches while her fans roared, weeping during their embrace and as she walked out. Back home in Algeria, her family and fans watched with pride as she won her second bout.
"I am happy for my daughter. She is courageous despite racist and sexist attacks to break her," her mother, Irene, said on Algerian television.
Hungary's boxing association said on Friday that it planned to contest the match-up with the International Olympic Committee, but still let the fight go ahead.
After the bout, Hungarian IOC member Balazs Furjes said alongside Hamori that she was adamant that it was "never an option … not to fight."
"I'm so proud of myself, because I had to fight, and I like to fight," said Hamori, who won two fights earlier in Paris.
"This was a hard fight, but I think I got to do everything I wanted for the fight, and I think in this fight, I'm so proud of myself, and I'm so grateful to be here. This was really a childhood dream."
Furjes read an equivocal statement in which he praised both Hamori and the IOC while indicating Hungary wasn't completely content.
"We, Hungarians, are always ready to fight bravely, and fiercely, and that's what Luca has just done and showed us," Furjes said.
"Of course, the Paris boxing competitions have their consequences. These consequences must be carefully evaluated after the Games."
Khelif stopped briefly to speak to an Algerian television crew, then walked straight to the dressing room without stopping for dozens of waiting reporters.
IOC president Thomas Bach earlier in the day defended Khelif and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan. Khelif and Lin were disqualified in the middle of last year's world championships by the IBA, the former governing body of Olympic boxing, after what it claimed were failed eligibility tests.
Both had competed in IBA events for several years without problems, and the Russian-dominated body — which has faced years of clashes with the IOC — has refused to provide any information about the tests, underscoring its lack of transparency in nearly every aspect of its dealings, particularly in recent years.
The IBA also announced it would pay Carini, her coaches and her federation a total of $153,000 (AUD) after the Italian abandoned her fight with the Algerian.
"Let's be very clear here: We are talking about women's boxing," Bach said.
"We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised a woman, who have a passport as a woman, and who have competed for many years as women. And this is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman."
The IBA, which is led by an acquaintance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, disqualified Khelif last year and said information about the tests was confidential.
"What we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman," Bach said.
"And there I can only invite them to come up with a scientific-based new definition of who is a woman; and how can somebody being born, raised, competed and having a passport as a woman cannot be considered a woman?
"We will not take part in a sometimes politically motivated cultural war," he added.
Against Hamori, Khelif fought aggressively from the opening bell, snapping a crisp left jab while the fighters circled. Her fans chanted her first name repeatedly midway through the opening round, and she won on all five judges' cards.
She showed her sharp skill while stalking Hamori in the second round, working behind the jab and catching Hamori repeatedly with short right hands along with an occasional combination to win the second round unanimously. Hamori landed several significant shots of her own and never appeared shaken by Khelif's power, which wasn't really considered remarkable in her weight division before this week.
The referee deducted a point from Khelif midway through the third round when both fighters fell to the canvas from a clinch with Khelif on top. Hamori then received a warning for punches to the back of the head, and she fell again from a clinch 10 seconds before the bell.
The exhausted fighters had a half-hearted hug after the bell, but they touched fists and exchanged warm smiles right before the verdict was announced. They touched hands again when Khelif held down the ropes to allow Hamori to leave the ring in a traditional boxing gesture of sportsmanship.
Khelif, who failed to medal at the Tokyo Games three years ago, will face Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand in the 66kg semifinals at Roland Garros. A silver medallist at last year's world championships, Suwannapheng upset defending Olympic champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey a few minutes before Khelif's victory.
As for Lin, also a two-time Olympian, she would clinch her first medal if she beats Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria. Lin won her opening bout Friday comfortably over Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan.
The reduced field at the Paris Olympics boxing tournament — which has the fewest number of total boxers since 1956 — means that many fighters can clinch medals with just two victories. Boxing awards two bronze medals in each weight class, which means every semifinalist wins a medal.
The Olympic sport reached gender parity for the first time in Paris, inviting 124 men and 124 women just 12 years after women's boxing made its Olympic debut.
AP
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