The fighter emerged triumphant in the welterweight battle inthemiddleof a gender row to bag Algeria’s 2nd gold medal in Paris.
Imane Khelif smiled, danced and roared with pleasure after pounding China’s Yang Liu to endedupbeing the veryfirst Algerian, Arab and African lady to win an Olympic boxing gold medal at the Paris Games.
The 25-year-old controlled the three-round welterweight battle and was revealed the winner in a consentaneous choice by the judges at the Rolland-Garros Stadium in the French capital on Friday night.
The Algerian, who hadactually been at the centre of a gender disagreement in one of the significant talking points of the Olympics, neverever looked in any problem as she delightedin the support of a rapturous Algerian crowd in the stands at Court Philippe-Chatrier.
She been captured up in a gender argument after a 2023 choice by the now-banned International Boxing Association (IBA) resurfaced, which disqualified her for stoppingworking a gender eligibility test.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has turneddown the results of the IBA-ordered tests as approximate and invalid, stating there was no factor to conduct them.
Khelif’s fans came prepared with the Algerian flag and let out a loud holler as Khelif strolled into the arena ahead of the battle. They cheered her on all the method from the veryfirst round up till the medal event as Khelif stood happily in the centre of the podium with a gold medal on her chest.
“It was my dream [to win this medal] and I am extremely pleased today that I’m an Olympic gold medallist,” Khelif informed the BBC after winning the battle.
“Eight years of difficult work, 8 years of [being] too wornout, 8 years of no sleep – [this is] great,” she included.
🇩🇿🥇 IMANE KHELIF GOLD MEDAL !
Algerian females continue to make us happy #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/xYe4eMGHWI
— Algeria FC (@Algeria_FC) August 9, 2024
The 66kg battle was the last bout on a hectic night of medal matches at the videogames.
Yang started the veryfirst round highly and attempted to push Khelif back, however the fighter from northwestern Algeria might not be trembled. Instead, she combated back with a strong blow towards the end of the veryfirst round to win it with ease.
There was no letup from the Algerian in the 2nd round, and while Yang attempted to battle back, she might not do enough to emerge triumphant.
By the 3rd round, Yang appeared to have lost the power to be the assailant and while Khelif waited for her to attack, the Chinese fighter missedouton numerous shots and appeared to haveactually accepted defeat.
‘Algeria is extremely pleased today’
Wearing red and a victor’s smile, Khelif strolled up to the centre of the ring for the referee to raise her left hand as the winner. She then saluted the crowd before breaking into a now hallmark dance around the ring.
It was in plain contrast to