At the end of three regularly held rounds, in the quarter-finals of the women's 66 kg category boxing tournament, the hyperandrogynous Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won the match on points against the Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori. Since the final for third and fourth place is not included in the Olympic program, the Algerian who ended up in controversy for her participation in the Games is therefore sure of winning at least bronze.
After the verdict she burst into tears : "It's a question of dignity and honor for every woman," she said. «All the Arab people have known me for years. For years I boxed in international federation competitions, they were unfair to me. But I have God."
In the first round on Thursday, Khelif had won by retiring after a few seconds of the Italian Angela Carini and found herself even more at the center of a global controversy with allegations about her sexual identity. According to the IOC, there is no suggestion that Khelif, who has fought on the women's circuit for years, including at the Tokyo Olympics, identifies as anything other than a woman.
The father also reiterates this by showing his identity documents and his birth certificate to AFP , speaking from a rural village about 10 km from Tiaret, a city 300 km from Algiers. «My daughter is a child - said Omar Khelif - She was raised as a child. She is a strong child, I raised her to work and be brave. She won against the Italian simply because she was stronger and the other was weak ." Imane has a «strong will at work and in training - assured her father - If God wants, he will honor us with a gold medal and raise our national flag in Paris. This is the only goal we set ourselves from the beginning."
(Unioneonline/D)