#ImaneKhelif won an Olympic gold medal for her weight class in women’s boxing after a Games full of accusations around her gender.
The Algerian boxer defeated China’s
#YangLiu in a unanimous decision Friday. The gold medal victory came after over a week of critics attacking Khelif’s gender.
The controversy began after Khelif defeated Italian boxer
#AngelaCarini in less than a minute in the opening round. It re-sparked a debate on whether Khelif should have been allowed to compete after she failed an unspecified gender eligibility test from the now-banned International Boxing Association, despite being born and always living and identifying as a woman.
Speculation circulated around whether she may have a higher than normal level of testosterone or be a woman with both an X and Y chromosome. The attacks and accusations continued into the quarterfinal match where Khelif handily defeated Hungary’s Anna
#LucaHamori. That victory came only hours after Hamori posted – and quickly deleted –...