Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif advances to final amid gender misconceptions – Technologist

Boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria has advanced to the gold-medal bout in the women’s welterweight division with a semifinal victory at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday night, August 6, amid scrutiny over misconceptions about her gender.

Khelif defeated Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand 5:0 in the semifinals at Roland-Garros, where the crowd roared and chanted her name throughout her three-round fight. Khelif has won three consecutive bouts in Paris, and she will win either a gold or a silver medal when she completes the tournament on Friday.

Khelif had already clinched Algeria’s first medal in women’s boxing before she stepped into the ring to rousing roars at Court Philippe-Chatrier.

She controlled her bout with Suwannapheng, who took a standing 8-count late in the third after absorbing a series of punches. Khelif has won every round on every judge’s card in her two fights that have gone the distance in Paris. After hugging Suwannapheng, Khelif celebrated in the ring, running wildly in place while pumping her fists as the crowd roared for her.

With one more victory, Khelif would win Algeria’s second boxing gold medal, joining Hocine Soltani (1996).

The ending of Khelif’s first bout in Paris propelled her into the center of a worldwide divide over gender identity and safety regulations in sports. Her first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, tearfully quit after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khelif’s punches.

Carini’s abandonment of the fight led to 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.

Best response would be to win a gold medal

In an interview with SNTV, a sports video partner of The Associated Press, Khelif said the wave of hateful scrutiny she is facing “harms human dignity” and called for an end to bullying athletes.

Khelif also said she felt the “best response” to the uproar around her would be to win a gold medal – and now she’s one win away from claiming it.

Khelif entered the ring against Suwannapheng to cheers echoing through the famed tennis arena. Roland Garros welcomed a prominent turnout from Algerian fans voicing their national pride in a boxer whose stigmatization by the Olympic-banished International Boxing Association has been taken very personally in her country.

Both fighters came out aggressively, trading punches from distance. Khelif was more accurate while winning the first round on all five cards, and she repeated the performance in the second.

The fight got more physical in the third, with Suwannapheng pushing forward to make a comeback. The bout was stopped for a standing 8-count late in the third when Suwannapheng absorbed a few head punches in succession, although Suwannapheng appeared to shrug as if it wasn’t necessary – as is often the case in Olympic boxing, where referees can stop a bout for relatively minor reasons.