Imane Khelif, one of the boxers at the centre of a gender row at the Paris Olympics, is set to win at least a bronze medal following her successful quarter final fight.
Khelif secured a second successive victory in the women’s 66kg bout against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori.
She now advances to the semi-finals where, even if she loses, she will still take home a medal. It will be the seventh Olympic boxing medal in Algeria’s history, its first since 2000 and the nation’s first ever in women’s boxing.
She now faces Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
The participation of Khelif and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting at Paris 2024 has led to scrutiny after they were disqualified from last year’s World Championships for failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.
On Thursday, Algeria’s Khelif won her fight in just 46 seconds, with opponent Angela Carini saying afterwards that she had “never felt a punch like this”.
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Khelif was cheered on by Algerian fans in the North Paris arena on Saturday after she tested her latest opponent with a series of stinging jabs.
Hamori responded with a few good shots of her own, including a big right hook in the second round, but Khelif remained in control of the match and emerged victorious on a unanimous decision.
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Chinese Taipei fighter Lin also won her women’s featherweight (-57kg) fight on Friday with a unanimous decision victory over Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova.
Both Lin and Khelif have previously competed in female boxing events for a number of years, but the International Boxing Association (IBA) – which carried out the tests in 2023 – said the duo failed “to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition”.
However, the IBA was stripped as the global governing body for boxing in June last year by the IOC, which is administering the sport in Paris.
Imane Khelif won the fight unanimously. Pic: PA
Olympic boss addresses ‘hate speech’ pair received
In a news conference on Saturday morning, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach addressed the criticism surrounding the two boxers and condemned the “hate speech” the pair have received on social media.
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“Let’s be very clear, we are talking about women’s boxing,” Bach said.
“We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman.
“This is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman.”
Khelif beat Carini in 46 seconds on Thursday. Pic: AP
Carini apologised for her reaction post-fight and told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport: “All this controversy makes me sad.
“I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”