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Imane Khelif hit out at “the enemies of success” and those who do not believe she is a woman after fighting to win Olympic gold amid a gender row at Paris 2024.
Khelif defeated Yang Liu to win the women’s welterweight tournament in Paris, becoming Algeria’s first woman to ever win a gold medal in boxing at the Games.
The 25-year-old boxer was disqualified by the IBA from the women’s World Championships for allegedly failing a gender eligibility test.
Khelif said that by winning gold she sent the IBA, which is no longer recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a message that she still her “dignity and honour” due to her success.
She added: “It’s a dream for every athlete. I took part in Tokyo, but I was not well prepared at the time; it was during Covid, the times were difficult.
“But in Paris, the whole world, the Algerians, they all know how hard I worked. I trained in the [United] States, mostly, in preparation for the Olympics, with a great trainer – Pedro Diaz, he has 21 Olympic medals, today he has 22, he also deserves this medal.
“As for if I qualify or not, if I’m a woman or not: I made many statements in the media, I’m fully qualified, I’m a woman, I was born a woman, I lived a woman. There’s no doubt about that.
“These people [who claim I am not], they are the enemies of success. It’s what I call them. It gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.
“My honour is in tact, but the attacks on social media were extremely bad and they are meaningless. They impact the dignity of people, now people’s thinking has changed.
“As for the IBA: since 2018 I was boxing under the umbrella of the IBA, they know me very well. They know what I’m capable of, how I’ve developed over the years. But now they are not reocgnised anymore and they hate me, and I don’t know why. I sent them a single message with this gold medal – and my dignity and honour is above everything else.
“The Algerian women are known for their strength and strong will, and they are valiant and they came to support me. They sent a message to the Arab [world] as well. They sent the message that our honour is above everything else.”
