Gender-row boxer Imane Khelif cries ‘I am a woman’ after guaranteeing Olympic medal

By Tom Morgan and Oliver Brown, at Paris Nord Arena

Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer engulfed in the Olympic gender row, cried “I am a woman” after easily-winning another bout to guarantee a medal.

In raucous, emotionally-charged scenes at Paris Nord Arena, 600 French-Algerians ferociously cheered another victory for the controversy-stricken fighter. Khelif was overcome with emotion, crying uncontrollably after the unanimous decision victory over Hungarian Luca Anna Hamori.

She sank to her knees, pretending to write her name on the canvas, but then refused to stop for most questions from a pack of 300 assembled journalists. “I feel good,” she initially told the BBC. “It’s the first medal for a woman from Algeria. I’m very happy. I want to thank all the world, the Arabic world. Thank you so much.”

She then added to Algerian TV: “I dominated. I dedicate this victory to the people of Algeria.”

She later swept through the media mixed zone, fighting back tears with an Algerian flag wrapped around her back. After she stopped very briefly, Algerian reporters claimed she declared: “I want to tell the entire world that I am a woman, and I will remain a woman.”

Khelif is one of two fighters banned from last year’s World Championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for twice failing gender eligibility tests. The 25-year-old has been at the centre of a global storm after her previous bout lasted just 46 seconds. This time, Khelif went the full three rounds on Saturday against an opponent whose federation had warned of potential legal action.

Speaking in Arabic as she boarded a coach back to the Olympic Village in dark glasses, Khelif thanked the IOC for supporting her. “I am grateful to the IOC who spoke the truth,” she said. “I am very proud to represent Algeria. Thanks to God, this is the first women’s medal for boxing in Algeria. In the Olympics there are no easy passes. Hopefully I will be ready for the next match for my country that I love so much. And I hope it will be a good one for the next generation.”

Despite sharing a photograph portraying Khelif as a beast ahead of the fight, Hamori was conciliatory afterwards in defeat, refusing to criticise Olympic gender rules. “I’m so proud of myself because I had to fight and I tried to win,” she said. “That was my childhood dream.”

She added that “it was a very hard day for both of us” but “I wish good luck to Khelif in the future.”

Hamori was flanked by Balázs Fürjes, a Hungarian member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who also attempted to temper criticism. “These consequences must be carefully evaluated after the Games,” was his only thinly veiled criticism of Khelif’s involvement.

In the days since her fight against Italy’s Angela Carini, Khelif has been subject to a torrent of criticism, some of it falsely assuming she is transgender.

Hamori herself had stoked the fire before the fight, saying she would fight her regardless of whether she was a man. But the two shared no less than three embraces after the fight, before Khelif celebrated with the large Algerian contingent in the crowd and subsequently broke down into tears as she left the arena.

Earlier, Khelif’s father – tracked down by the Reuters news agency in Algeria – had said attacks against her were immoral. “Imane is a little girl that has loved sport since she was six-years-old,” said Amar Khelif.

Thomas Bach, president of the IOC, had also waded into the row around Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, saying “There was never any doubt about them being a woman.”

However, Bach misspoke by wrongly denying the pair had differences in sex development (DSD). “This is not a DSD case, this is about a woman taking part in a women’s competition, and I think I have explained this many times,” he said, sparking confusion.

The IOC then immediately issued a correction on its social-media feeds, saying he instead meant to say “this is not a transgender case”.

Lin fights her quarter-final bout on Sunday, while Khelif’s semi-final – which guarantees her at least a bronze – takes place on Tuesday against Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng.

Imane Khelif vs Anna Luca Hamori: As it happened...

05:30 PM BST

Khelif speaks

05:11 PM BST

The two embrace...

...Despite Hamori’s fuel to the flames before the fight.

05:09 PM BST

Khelif’s tears

Khelif soon broke down into tears, and left the arena weeping amidst her coaches

05:05 PM BST

Hamori allowed to thank crowd

Khelif sat aside to allow Hamori to embrace the crowd before her own celebrations. The two shook hands one more time as Hamori exited the ring...

05:03 PM BST

Big Algerian support

The IOC isn’t the only body responsible for Khelif’s appearance in Paris - Algeria’s Olympic federation have endorsed her and as you can see her fans were well behind her in this fight. They’ve been vehemently defending her on social media this week, Algeria’s football team account even mocking Angela Carini at one point

04:59 PM BST

Khelif victorious

Khelif made an effort to salute the crowd before letting the emotions flow out...

04:53 PM BST

Khelif in tears

She gave her respect to the crowd, then gestures writing something on the canvas before slamming it. She then breaks down into tears and is ushered away from her team - behind all the turmoil this will have been a difficult week for her. Hamori left shortly before looking relatively happy, thanking the crowd.

04:50 PM BST

Khelif wins by unanimous decision

Khelif wins, the crowd erupt. The two fighters shake hands and Hamori gives Khelif a handshake and embrace, very friendly between the two.

04:48 PM BST

End of fight

The fighters share a small embrace, a smile on Khelif’s face.

04:47 PM BST

Messy round 3

The fighters fall to the ground twice for grappling, and Khelif is docked a point by the referee, without prior warning. Minimal drama to it, she’s comfortably ahead on the scorecard.

04:45 PM BST

Khelif wins 2nd round

The round ends with Khelif on top, and Hamori begins arguing with her corner, she appears quite frustrated.

Another unanimous win for Khelif, one judge scoring it 10-8. Hamori will need something emphatic to win now.

04:43 PM BST

Round 2

Hamori is having to chase this fight given that first round score, but Khelif is keeper her at bay with some straights that are really maximising her reach advantage. The crowd appreciates each and every one.

04:41 PM BST

Khelif wins first round

Five greens on the scorecard for Khelif, so she wins round one unanimously - 10-9 for all five judges

04:40 PM BST

Passionate Khelif support

04:40 PM BST

Boos for Hamori

04:38 PM BST

Past the 46 second mark

We’re past the now infamous 46 second mark, and Hamori is boxing well, landing some jabs

04:37 PM BST

Touch gloves and we’re off

No dramas there despite the tension beforehand. Khelif in the red corner, Hamori in the blue depicted in her Instagram story

04:36 PM BST

Khelif walking out - boos for Hamori

The commentators are previewing the match, and whilst the Carini win is mentioned, none of the surrounding details are. There’s a significant Algerian contingent in the crowd, who boo Khelif’s opponent Hamori.

04:32 PM BST

Khelif/Hamori’s next opponent

The previous fight has finished, meaning Khelif’s fight is imminent. Thailand’s number eight seed Janjaem Suwannapheng beats Turkey’s number one seed, reigning Olympic champion Busenaz Surmeneli via split decision, and awaits the winner of our next fight.

04:30 PM BST

The tale of the tape

As Oliver mentioned, Hamori hasn’t backed down amidst the controversy, that has all implied Khelif will win this fight easily. At 1.75m, Hamori is 3cm shorter than Khelif - reach was a big feature of Lin Yu-Ting’s win yesterday.

Hamori’s record, according to BoxRec, is 18 wins, 13 losses, and she departed the 2023 World Championships at the Round of 32 stage - these was the same tournament that Khelif reached the final in before getting disqualified for failing a gender test.

According to the same site, Khelif’s record is 41-9, and she is seeded fifth for this event.

04:21 PM BST

Chaotic press box reflects tumultuous story

04:19 PM BST

What the IBA and IOC have to say

As a result of all of the previous posts, the IOC was near enough obligated to make a statement. There were two major aspects to what IOC President Thomas Bach said:

“There was never any doubt about them being a woman”. This alludes to the IOC’s eligibility ruling that relies on an athletes passport, rather than any gender tests.

“This is not a DSD case [This is not a transgender case]” Was the other. Bach misspoke here, this is a DSD (differences in sexual development) case - something which the IOC immediately rectified on social media afterwards.

In the IBA corner, they have backed their decision making, going as far as to say they will give Khelif’s beaten opponent Angela Carini the prize money they’d give an Olympic champion had they been running the event.

04:17 PM BST

The Yu-Ting fight

Lin Yu-Ting was the other woman disqualified from IBA competition in March 2023, and fought yesterday afternoon in much less memorable fashion, beating Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova in a convincing unanimous decision without landing any major punches.

Turdibekova shook hands with Yu-Ting’s coaches, but ignored her opponent before leaving the ring in tears, neither have commented since.

04:11 PM BST

Extended reaction

The extended reaction has been just as polarising as the initial one to Khelif’s fight. There are a number of high profile figures from inside and outside the boxing community, here are some of the high profile ones:

• Donald Trump said “keep men out of women’s sports”, a concept that has been rebutted by the IOC.

• Great British boxing legend Nicola Adams has condemned Khelif’s eligibility, but specified that this isn’t a transgender issue.

• Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called the fight “an incredibly uncomfortable watch”.

04:05 PM BST

Immediately after the fight

Khelif’s victory took place shortly before midday, and by the afternoon the 46 seconds of boxing was subject to complete uproar. Initially, the debate centred around transgender participation in sport, and although it seems social media has a wider understanding that neither Khelif nor Yu-Ting are transgender, opposition to their eligibility is equally vociferous.

There was also controversy over the coverage of the event. The BBC did not televise it, and will not televise it today. Eurosport are, but in both of Khelif and Yu-Ting’s fights have avoided mentioning the issue.

03:53 PM BST

Khelif’s opening fight

This is where the controversy descended instantly into one of the biggest scandals in Olympic history. Having received two clean blows to the face, Carini abandoned the fight within 46 seconds. She fell to her knees in tears as the referee confirmed the result, before making haste out of the arena and telling the press that she’d been struggling to breathe having never been hit so hard.

03:46 PM BST

Controversy before the fight

Khelif and Yu-Ting’s eligibility for the Olympics was a smelting pot waiting to bubble over even before Khelif’s first fight on Thursday. Their case was high profile as soon as they were exiled from the IBA in March 2023 for failing gender tests, but it was elevated to a new level when the International Olympic committee, who are running the boxing event this year due to separate concerns with the IBA, confirmed that under their passport ruling, the two could fight with their country’s blessing.

The IBA and IOC eligibility rules differ in that regard, as the IBA disregard athletes whose DNA is made up of XY chromosomes that increase capacity for testosterone and strength closer to that of a male’s, who can hit up to 2.6 times harder than women.

Aware of the fragility of the situation, IOC spokesman Mark Adams, who was Sir Keir Starmer’s best man, warned against a “witch hunt” for Khelif and Yu-Ting.

The IBA criticised this, but it’s worth noting that their handling of their disqualification wasn’t inconspicuous - Khelif found out hours before a World Championship gold medal bout, whilst Yu-ting had a bronze medal stripped and given to her opponent Svetlina Staneva in the same tournament - Yu-Ting will face Staneva again tomorrow morning.

03:35 PM BST

What’s happening today?

Imane Khelif is due for her second fight at 16.22, it’s the second fight of the day in the women’s welterweight division, preceded by a fight between first seed Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey, and eighth seed Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand, the winner of which will take on whoever wins Khelif’s fight. That bout will start at 16.06.

Overall, it’s the eighth fight of the afternoon session at the Arena Paris Nord, and we’re currently running just behind schedule as we approach the conclusion of the fourth fight.

03:23 PM BST

One of the Olympics’ biggest ever scandals

Good afternoon and welcome to The Telegraph’s live coverage of Imane Khelif’s second fight in the women’s 66kg welterweight boxing event, as she fights Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori in a quarterfinal bout.

By now it seems everyone is aware of the controversy surrounding Khelif, and women’s featherweight boxer Lin Yu-Ting, although the intricacies around the debate are complicated, and widely misrepresented. If you aren’t aware of why Khelif and Yu-Ting’s participation at the Paris Olympics is so disputed, or are confused by some of the terminology about it, all of your questions can be answered through this link.

In short, Khelif and Yu-Ting are banned from International Boxing Association (IBA) competition on the premise of failing two gender tests, that suggest the usually male-associated XY chromosome structure is present in their DNA. This means their bodies have a greater capacity for testosterone, and therefore strength. Neither athlete is transgender, they were born female, which is why their countries and the IOC allow them to compete.

The discourse around Khelif is particularly divisive, going into her first round fight against Angela Carini, videos of her dominating an opponent just three months before her IBA disqualification were going viral, and in the eventual fight Carini abandoned within 46 seconds, saying afterwards that she had to “preserve [her] life”. Today’s opponent, Hamori, hasn’t shied away from the scandal, in contrast to both fighters in Yu-Ting’s bout yesterday, instead fueling the flames on social media.

Aside from the boxers themselves, the issue grown to be so contentious that it has become impossible to ignore. There were initial murmurings from from figures of authority in the wake of Khelif’s brutal victory, such as the Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and a special rapporteur on violence against women and girls to the UN, that became noise from influential figures such as JK Rowling and Elon Musk, that has become political debate at the highest level, Donald Trump and UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy feeling inclined to give their opinions. All of the mentioned names have condemned Khelif’s eligibility directly or indirectly, and some others, such as Liz Truss, have done so in a way that incorrectly suggests Khelif is transgender.

The culmination of all of this noise has had both manifest and inconsequential results; despite all the furore, Khelif will fight. However, the IOC has been forced to address the scandal, and the Olympics now face potential legal complication. This live blog will provide updates on the fight, including build-up and reaction, and any news from our man on the ground, Oliver Brown, as well as some expansion on the above as  one of the Olympics’ biggest ever controversies develops.