IMANE KHELIF will fight for Olympic gold after another dominant win in the ring.
The Algerian, 25, blocked out the outside vitriol of the gender row to keep full focus on her task at hand.
After calling for an end to the “bullying”, she mercilessly dispatched Janjaem Suwannapheng, 23, to reach Friday’s final.
The IBA claim two blood tests allegedly showed Khelif has XY chromosomes and therefore failed to meet their gender eligibility, booting her out of last year’s World Championships.
But the IOC discredit the Russian-backed IBA and are happy with the female status on the passport of Khelif, and Lin Yu-ting, giving them the green light to compete at Paris 2024.
And Khelif has taken full advantage, winning her first two bouts with ease before breezing past Thailand’s No5 seed Suwannapheng, celebrating with a finger wag and then a joyful jig inside the ropes.
It was a new location under the roof of tennis’ Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros but Khelif received the same vociferous welcome with dozens of Algerian flags all around the impressive 15,000-seater arena.
Chants of her name started between and even during the bouts earlier on the card and amplified to ear-splitting volumes for her ring walk, while Suwannapheng got a mix of boos and applause.
In the opening round, towering Khelif had it all her own way and got the favour of all five judges, even after putting her opponent in a headlock.
The second was more of the same, again taking it 5-0, as every punch that landed from her blue gloves got met by a deafening cheer.
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Khelif tried to wrap it up in style and the referee stepped in to give Suwannapheng a count with 20 seconds to go.
But although she survived to the final bell, Suwannapheng, Khelif and all the fans knew the Algerian had won – and it was soon confirmed by unanimous decision.
This famous stadium has seen its fair share of dominant wins from Rafael Nadal – but this was right up there.
Another performance like that on Friday and Khelif will be an Olympic champion.
A look at the full statement issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit...
Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.
All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.
These rules also applied during the qualification period, including the boxing tournaments of the 2023 European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games and Pacific Games, the ad hoc 2023 African qualifying tournament in Dakar (SEN) and two world qualifying tournaments held in Busto Arsizio (ITA) and Bangkok (THA) in 2024, which involved a total of 1,471 different boxers from 172 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the Boxing Refugee Team and Individual Neutral Athletes, and featured over 2,000 qualification bouts.
The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules as a baseline to develop its regulations for Paris 2024. This was to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparations and guarantee consistency between Olympic Games. These Tokyo 2020 rules were based on the post-Rio 2016 rules, which were in place before the suspension of the boxing International Federation by the IOC in 2019 and the subsequent withdrawal of its recognition in 2023.
We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.
According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing”.
The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.
Such an approach is contrary to good governance.
Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition, and any rule change must follow appropriate processes and should be based on scientific evidence.
The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games as per the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.
The IBA’s recognition was withdrawn by the IOC in 2023 following its suspension in 2019. The withdrawal of recognition was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). See the IOC’s statement following the ruling.
The IOC has made it clear that it needs National Boxing Federations to reach a consensus around a new International Federation in order for boxing to be included on the sports programme of the Olympic Games LA28.
