Imane Khelif overcame Janjaem Suwannapheng to book her place in the gold-medal fight after a torrid fortnight at the Paris Olympics – and the Algerian’s emotions spilled out following her emphatic win.
Khelif’s participation in the women’s 66kg boxing class has been the subject of intense scrutiny after she was disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Championships for allegedly failing International Boxing Association (IBA) gender eligibility rules.
But the 25-year-old – who has always competed in the women’s division and identified as female since birth – received tremendous support this evening, with countless Algerian flags and banners on show at Court Philippe Chatrier.
And from the opening bell, chants of ‘Imane, Imane, Imane!’ rang out around Roland-Garros’ main tennis venue, which has been repurposed for this summer’s boxing finals at the Games.
Roared on by the rowdy crowd, Khelif went on to beat her Thai opponent in all three rounds by unanimous decision to secure a place in the final, where she will face off against Yang Liu of China.
An in-form Khelif has now won 12 fights on the trot and the joy was clear to see as she celebrated her latest triumph, another defiant message in the face of the ‘bullying’ she has received at the Olympics.
After shaking hands with Suwannapheng, the 25-year-old celebrated her progression to Friday’s showpiece with a victory jig, which sent her already noisy Algerian supporters into a frenzy.
‘I don’t care what anyone is saying about me with the controversy,’ Khelif said.
‘All that is important to me is that I stay on the level and give my people the performance they deserve.
‘I know I’m a talented person and this is a gift to all Algerians.’
Looking ahead to her final bout against Yang Liu, Khelif vowed to ‘give everything’ to secure the gold medal for Algeria.
‘I am focused,’ Khelif said.
‘I am here for a good performance and my dream. I will give everything I have for the final.’
Suwannapheng said she was ‘not afraid’ of Khelif ahead of their semi-final and insisted the pair were ‘evenly matched’ despite the Algerian winning their previous meeting in India last year.
‘I’ve improved since then and I’ll fight with all I’ve got,’ Suwannapheng told Thai newspaper Khaosod earlier this week.
‘I’ve looked into it too, about her hormones, and I know she’s lost to female boxers before, but that was a long time ago.
‘I’m not sure if she’s got stronger or if her male hormones have increased.’
Suwannapheng added: ‘But if we meet again, I’m not afraid because we’re evenly matched.
‘I’ve prepared my body well too, trained a lot. I just think, no matter how strong or tough, we’re both human, we both have two fists.
‘Having come this far, I want to go all the way to the gold medal.’
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