‘I am a female’: Algerian boxer claims unfair treatment after emotional victory

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif said she had been treated unfairly and declared, “I am a female”, after guaranteeing herself a medal in an emotion-charged victory at the Paris Olympics.

Khelif, one of two boxers at the Paris Games who previously failed gender eligibility tests, booked a semi-final showdown in the women’s 66kg division on Wednesday morning (AEST) after a comfortable win over Hungarian Luca Anna Hamori.

Khelif was overcome with emotion as she pounded her fist on the canvas and burst into tears as she embraced her entourage following a win that guarantees her at least a bronze medal. Boxing is one of only two Olympics sports that awards a bronze medal to both semi-final losers.

The International Boxing Association previously disqualified Khelif and another female fighter, Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, from the 2023 world boxing championships after they failed gender eligibility tests.

However, both boxers are allowed to fight in Paris because the International Olympic Committee – which took over the running of the tournament from the IBA due to financial and ethical irregularities – has more relaxed rules around gender eligibility.

“This is a matter of dignity and honour for every woman or female,” Khelif told BeIN Sports straight after the bout. “The entire Arab people have known me for years. For years I have been boxing in international federation competitions, they (IBA) were unfair with me. But I have God.

Algeria’s Imane Khelif, celebrates after defeating Hungary’s Anna Hamori in their women’s 66kg quarterfinal boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics.Credit: AP

“I want to tell the entire world that I am a female, and I will remain a female,” she told a media scrum as she continued to fight back tears, with the Algerian flag draped around her back.

“I dedicate this medal to the world, and to all the Arabs and I tell you, ‘Long live Algeria.’ ”

Before the fight, Algerian Olympic and Sports Committees director Yassine Arab told this masthead that the nation was proud of Khelif and even alleged without evidence that she was the victim of a conspiracy to undermine the ambitions of the predominantly Muslim country.

“The Zionist lobby, they want to break the mind of Imane. But now Imane is very strong,” he said. “They don’t want that a Muslim girl or Arabic girl goes higher in the level of the rank of female boxing.

“We are all here for Imane. You can see all the support of everybody from [around] the world. All the international press associations, they support Imane,” Arab said.

Khelif embraces her entourage after the win.Credit: Getty Images

He also took aim at US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who declared, “I will keep men out of women’s sport” following Khelif’s previous win against Italy’s Angela Carini – which ended after just 46 seconds and intensified a complex debate about the IOC’s gender policy in boxing.

“He wants to talk about Imane? He has many problems. First of all, I say to this guy, go to see the doctor. Go to see the psychologist. You are really in a very bad mood.”

Khelif, 25, was too good for Hamori, who was booed as she entered the ring less than 24 hours after she posted, then deleted, an image on social media depicting a small woman preparing to fight against a beast under the Olympic rings.

She chose her words carefully as she addressed the 300-strong media scrum that had assembled in the mixed zone.

“This was a hard fight but I think I did everything that I wanted before the fight and I think it was a good fight,” Hamori said. “I’m so proud of myself and I’m so grateful to be here. This was a very good competition for me and it was my childhood dream so I’m so happy.

“I wish good luck to to my opponent and the others in the finals and I’m so thankful for my coaches for the Hungarian team and for my family and for everybody who gave me some support.”

Algerian Imane Khelif beat Italian Angela Carini by abandonment after just 46 seconds in boxing.Credit: Getty Images, AP

On Saturday, just hours before Khelif’s bout, IOC president Thomas Bach told a press conference in Paris that there were no issues with the Algerian and Chinese Taipei boxer Lin Yu-ting competing against women.

“Let’s be very clear here, we are talking about women’s boxing, and we have two boxers born as women, have been raised as women, who have passports as women and competed for many years as women,” Bach said.

“This is the clear definition of a woman, there was never any doubt about them being a woman, what we see now is some want to own the definition of who is a woman.”

The Algerian supporters in the crowd at the North Paris Arena cheering on Khelif.Credit: Getty Images

In the press conference he added: “this is not a DSD [Differences of Sex Development] case, this is about a woman taking part in a women’s competition, and I think I have explained this many times.”

However, the IOC had to send out a correction later that afternoon with a statement that claimed Bach intended to say, “this is not a transgender case”, rather than “this is not a DSD case”.

Hungarian Olympic Committee president and IOC member Balazs Furjef addressed the media after the fight following revelations of a protest lodged by the Hungarians in the lead up to the fight.

“First of all, we Hungarians, as proud and old members of the International Olympic family, have always been and will always be in favour of fair competition,” Furjef said.

Imane Khelif celebrates her win.Credit: Getty Images

“And we can only believe, we can only think, that every match is decided on the playing field and not elsewhere … it was never an option for Luca, we couldn’t have even convinced her, neither the president, nor myself nor the whole Olympic Committee, not to fight. We Hungarians are always ready to fight bravely and heroically and that’s what Luca has just done and shown us.

“Of course, the Paris boxing competitions have their consequences, like every other competition. These consequences must be carefully evaluated after the Games. And as loyal members of the International Olympic family and the International Olympic Committee, we are 100 per cent convinced that the International Olympic Committee will make the right decisions.”

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