Olympic Games | Imane Khelif triumphs: “I am a woman like other women”

(Paris) Whatever one thinks of Olympians who naturally produce high levels of testosterone, it took a heart of stone not to be moved by Imane Khelif’s triumph in her gold medal match on Friday.

The Algerian boxer dominated her Chinese opponent with such panache that the judges unanimously declared her the winner. When her victory was announced, Khelif did a few dance steps, kissed the Algerian crest on her jersey, then threw herself into the arms of her team members. One of them lifted her onto his shoulders to give her a well-deserved lap of honour around the Philippe-Chatrier stadium.

“Imane, Imane, Imane,” chanted the crowd, who encouraged her every second of her fight. Dozens of Algerian flags flew in the enclosure to the sound ofAbdel Kader. A truly moving scene, when you know everything Imane Khelif faced in these Games.

Her journey here has been marked by adversity of rare intensity. Before arriving in Paris two weeks ago, her name was known only to those close to her and to those interested in the very confidential world of women’s amateur boxing. Today, her name is recognized everywhere. You know her. Your neighbor, your butcher and your hairdresser too — and not necessarily for the right reasons. She owes her sudden popularity first to a senseless campaign of harassment of which she was the victim.

X owner Elon Musk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump have questioned her femininity, lamenting that high-testosterone boxers like her could compete against women at the Olympics. Countless online users have called her a man or trans. Khelif has even found herself at the center of a diplomatic spat between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Russia.

Even though she’s the best Olympic boxer in the under 66 kilos category, all those attacks eventually leave their mark.

Being the victim of a harassment campaign is tough. Remember hockey player Maxime Comtois, who received messages encouraging him to commit suicide after missing a penalty shot in a junior tournament. “Cyberbullying is a threat [réelle]”No one should have to go through this,” he said. Speed ​​skater Kim Boutin was also the target of death threats from South Koreans at the PyeongChang Games after a local opponent was disqualified. Skater Apolo Anton Ohno also suffered similar attacks.

Imagine yourself in the middle of such a maelstrom, while having to deliver the performance of your life, in a sport that has occupied all of your time for a long time. It takes exceptional mental and physical strength to overcome the noise, the controversy and the detractors, and then go and conquer Olympic gold.

“I am fully qualified to participate in this competition,” she said in Arabic after the fight, according to a translation provided by The Guardian. “I am a woman like other women. I was born a woman. I lived as a woman. I competed as a woman, there is no doubt about that. [Les détracteurs] are the enemies of success. That’s what I call them. And these attacks give a special taste to my success.”

“I am very happy,” she added, according to the AFP translation. “For eight years, this has been my dream. Now I am a gold medalist. I worked for eight years, I did not sleep, I was tired for [tout ce temps]. Now I am an Olympic champion!”

Now that her Games are over, Imane Khelif will be able to find some peace and quiet. However, the debate over the place of women with abnormally high testosterone levels remains in several sports, including boxing.

The IOC will not be able to sweep this issue under the carpet for another four years. Especially not when major federations, such as athletics and swimming, have already changed their rules to take it into account. Mind you, in the specific case of boxing, it could be resolved differently. On Friday, the IOC indicated that the presence of this sport at the Los Angeles Games in 2028 was still not confirmed. “Our position is clear: the IOC will not organize boxing in Los Angeles without a reliable partner,” commented its president, Thomas Bach.

Understand, an international federation less gangrened by refereeing scandals and corruption than the former organizer of the Olympic tournament, the IBA, which continues to hammer home that Imane Khelif failed one of its femininity tests last year^⁠1.

It won’t be hard to beat.

1. Read the column “Imane Khelif against virtual uppercuts”