Saturday, August 03, 2024

ACCUSED OF BEING TRANS
Olympics gender row boxer in tears after winning at least bronze

Paris (AFP) – The Algerian boxer embroiled in a major gender controversy guaranteed herself at least bronze at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, bursting into tears after winning her quarter-final.


Issued on: 03/08/2024 - 

Algeria's Imane Khelif celebrates her victory over Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori 
© MOHD RASFAN / AFP
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"It's a battle, it's for my dignity," said Imane Khelif, one of two boxers at the centre of the storm, after she outclassed Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori to win on a unanimous points decision and reach the semi-finals of the women's 66kg category.

The duo embraced at the end and shook hands, before the judges' verdict was delivered, and an animated Khelif left the ring in tears.

The 25-year-old is ensured of a medal because losing semi-finalists in the boxing take home bronze.

Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, the other boxer facing intense scrutiny, can also guarantee herself at least a bronze on Sunday when she faces Bulgaria's Svetlana Staneva in the quarter-finals of the women's 57kg.

Khelif and Lin, 28, were disqualified from last year's world championships, run by the International Boxing Association (IBA), after failing gender eligibility tests.

The IBA said this week that the two boxers "did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test, whereby the specifics remain confidential".

Neither boxer is known to identify as transgender.

The row ignited on Thursday after Khelif took 46 seconds in her opening bout in Paris to dismantle the Italian Angela Carini, who was left hurt and tearful.

The IBA, which has no involvement in the Games after years of mismanagement, immediately criticised the IOC.

'Honour to Algeria'

Hamori, who had said before the fight that it was unfair to face Khelif, was booed into the North Paris Arena.

Khelif won comfortably after consistently driving the Hungarian back and scoring with repeated jabs to the face.

Hamori was magnanimous in defeat.

"I think it was a good fight," she said. "I wish good luck to my opponent and to the others in the semi-finals."

Algeria's president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, was quick to congratulate Khelif, who like Taiwan's Lin boxed at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago but did not win a medal.

"You bring honour to Algeria, Algerian women and Algerian boxing. We'll stand next to you whatever your results in the next two rounds," he wrote on social media.

Khelif's coach Mohammed Chaoua said his fighter "deserves a medal for courage".

She faces Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand in the last four on Tuesday for a place in the final.

The IOC has leapt to the defence of Khelif and Lin, with president Thomas Bach on Saturday saying they were born and raised as women, and have passports saying that.

Ahead of Saturday's bout, Khelif's father Omar told AFP from their Algerian village: "My child is a girl.

"She was raised as a girl. She is a strong girl -- I raised her to work and be brave."

© 2024 AFP


'I want to inspire': Algeria's woman boxer fighting prejudices

Agence France-Presse
August 3, 2024 
Algeria's Imane Khelif has spoken of the difficulty conservative life in Tiaret's semi-desert surroundings © MOHD RASFAN / AFP

Algiers (AFP) – Born in a poor village some 300 kilometres from Algiers, boxer Imane Khelif had to overcome obstacles in a conservative country where women are considered unfit for the sport.

With braided hair and a powerful 1.79 metre (5 foot 9 inch) physique, the 25-year-old is the object of a Paris Olympic Games gender controversy.

With smiles and a soft voice, Imane told her story on television channel Canal Algerie one month before the start of the games.

"Our village was around 10 kilometres from the centre (of Tiaret, 280 kilometres southwest of Algiers). I moved from the village to the city. From the city to the capital. From the capital to abroad," she said.

From a family of limited means, she spoke of the difficulty of her life in "a village of conservative people" in Tiaret's semi-desert surroundings.

"I came from a conservative family. Boxing is not a widely-practised sport by women, especially in Algeria. It was difficult."

Already a strong athlete, she played football with the boys in her village of Biban Mesbah -- but beating boys in matches brought on fights where she fought back with punches.



Photo by Tim Winkler on Unsplash

These fights lead her to boxing.


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 Tiaret.

Imane's father at first did not approve of her decision to pursue boxing, but he eventually became one of her biggest fans.

The 49-year-old unemployed welder told AFP that his daughter is "an example of the Algerian woman, a heroine of Algeria".
'How society looked at me'

He hailed "her strong will to work and to train", in an interview with AFP on Friday.

In 2022, Imane told the Algerian news agency APS that she had considered giving up boxing "because my family did not accept the idea, and because of how society looked at me, considering that I was doing something wrong."

But "all these barriers made me even stronger and were an extra motivation to achieve my dreams."

She also expressed her determination in an interview on the UNICEF website, where she said her "dream is to win a gold medal".

"If I win, mothers and fathers will be able to see how far their children can go," she said. "I want to inspire girls and children in Algeria."

Imane's international career took off with her participation in the lightweight category in the 2020 summer Olympic Games in Tokyo -- postponed to 2021 -- where she won fifth place after losing in the quarter finals to Ireland's Kellie Harlington.

"Everything changed for the better, especially as my country's flag flew and its hymn played in many countries throughout the world", she explained.

In 2023, she made it to the semi-finals of the women's amateur boxing world championships in New Delhi, India.

But then she was disqualified following unspecified gender eligibility testing by the International Boxing Association, which is not recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

After her match against Italian opponent Angela Carini this week in the Paris Games -- whom she beat in less than a minute -- Imane was targeted by online harassment and racism, where far-right publications insinuated that she was "a man fighting women".

SHE CRIED AFTER GETTING PUNCHED IN THE NOSE,  AND RAN OFF
SHE DID NOT THINK NOSE PUNCHING WAS ALLOWED IN BOXING
 YOU CRY IT HURTS ITS AUTOMATIC

Her father has dismissed aspersions about her gender, saying she is "a strong and courageous girl."

And the IOC has supported her participation, amid the furore over Khelif and another woman boxer also disqualified from last year's world championships.

"All of the competitors respect the eligibility rules for the competitions," said Mark Adams, IOC spokesman, adding that it had "established that these are women."

Imane's coach, Mohamed Chaoua, said the "controversies give her the strength to move forward".




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