TIARET: The poor, rural hometown of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif erupted in joy on Friday as she won gold at the Paris Olympics in the face of a major gender controversy. Cheers of Khelif’s name and the country’s famous chant “one two three, viva l’Algerie” broke out in Biban Mesbah, a town of around 6,000 people. “It’s Algeria’s victory,” her father, Omar Khelif, told reporters as he watched the fight on a giant screen along with the rest of the village around 300 kilometers southwest of Algiers.

Villagers fired shots into the air in honor of 25-year-old Khelif’s first Olympic medal following her victory over China’s Yang Liu in the women’s 66kg final. The jubilation also spread to the capital Algiers, where crowds invaded the city centre, celebrating the victory with fireworks and a chorus of car horns. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune joined the celebrations on social media site X, saying: “We are all proud of you, Olympic champion Imane, your victory today is Algeria’s victory and your gold is Algeria’s gold.”

‘Strong woman’

Ahead of Khelif’s fight, hundreds of volunteers turned out in Biban Mesbah to help prepare for the big night. Despite scorching temperatures of 46 degrees Celsius, the men carried out a vast clean-up operation while dozens of women were busy cooking a giant couscous. “We agreed to give the village a new face and breathe new life into it, with the victory of Imane Khelif,” her cousin Mounir Khelif, 36, told AFP.

“We all helped each other, some bringing couscous, others oil and vegetables, while those who couldn’t help with provisions helped with the preparation,” said Amina Saadi, 52, a mother of six. “We are all united behind Imane Khelif, who has honored Algeria, that’s the least we can offer her”, she said. The boxer has been the victim of a social media hate campaign that portrays her as a “man fighting women”. “I’m a strong woman with special powers. From the ring, I sent a message to those who were against me,” she said Friday after her win.

The gender controversy ignited in the French capital when Khelif defeated Angela Carini in 46 seconds in her opening bout, the Italian reduced to tears and abandoning the fight after suffering a badly hurt nose. Algerians from all walks of life have showed their solidarity with Khelif, irritated that her father was forced to show her birth certificate to journalists to prove she was born a girl. — AFP

Khelif’s international career took off with her participation at the COVID-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she finished fifth in her weight class. In 2023, she made it to the semi-finals of the world championships in New Delhi. But then she was disqualified following gender eligibility testing by the International Boxing Association, which is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee and is not running the sport in Paris.

From a family of limited means, she spoke before the Games of the difficulty of her life in “a village of conservative people” in semi-desert surroundings. Imane said that her father initially found it difficult to accept her boxing. “I came from a conservative family. Boxing is not a widely practiced sport by women, especially in Algeria,” she told Canal Algerie a month before the Games, smiling readily and her voice soft. In an interview with UNICEF, she said she used to sell scrap metal and her mother sold homemade couscous to pay for bus tickets to a nearby town. 

Algerian boxer excluded

Meanwhile, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has been excluded from the women’s world championships after being told she had “characteristics that mean I can’t box with women”, she said Saturday. The International Boxing Association confirmed that she had been excluded from the tournament in New Delhi “due to the failure to meet the IBA eligibility criteria”. In an email to AFP, it declined to say what rule she had breached, citing athletes’ “personal and medical privacy”.

Algerian media reported the 23-year-old had failed a hormone test, returning an elevated testosterone level. In a video posted online, Khelif said she had been told she would have an unfair advantage over other women, but claimed she was the victim of a “big conspiracy”. “People have conspired against Algeria so that its flag doesn’t get raised and it doesn’t win the gold medal,” she said. Due to the exclusion, Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng will compete in the 66kg division final, the IBA said. — AFP