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The venue may have been different but the result was familiar. At Roland Garros Imane Khelif, the boxer at the heart of the gender row that has rocked these Olympics, demolished another opponent on Tuesday. She is now three rounds from gold. “I don’t care,” she declared to her doubters.
The Algerian (25), cruised to a unanimous victory over Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng, who simply had no answers to her opponent’s speed and power. The questions for Games bosses, however, will now grow even louder.
Khelif was banned from last year’s World Championships by Russian-led governing body IBA after failing a gender test shortly before she was due to fight for a gold medal.
According to the IBA, which was stripped of the right to run boxing at the Games amid corruption and governance issues, she was found to have the male “XY” chromosome. However, no such tests have been carried out at Paris Olympics 2024, with eligibility based on which sex is listed in a participant’s passport.
Khelif, who comprehensively stamped her ticket to the final, had a two-inch height advantage and was roared on by a noisy Algerian contingent. She has rapidly become a hero in the country.
She has also now won 12 straight bouts and will return to this tennis landmark, which has taken over from the North Paris Arena, for the final set on Friday night.
“I don’t care what anyone is saying about me with the controversy,” she 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.”
From the opening bell, that gift was being wrapped. Khelif took immediate control. The left jab-right hand combination we saw in her previous fights were again in full flow. She landed clean, big shots and forced the Thai into a rare standing eight-count in the last round of what was largely a no-contest.
When the verdict came in Khelif she launched into a delighted victory jig, with a beaming smile. There not be many of those in the International Olympic Committee’s plush hotel suites. The prospect of gold for Khelif is likely to cause a continued headache for IOC bosses, who have been forced to defend her presence in Paris on an almost-daily basis. They will have to do so again, no doubt, although this was a performance not without a high level of skill.
Eyes will now turn to the second boxer who failed the gender test at World Championships, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, who fought her semi-final Wednesday against Turkey’s Esra Yildiz Kahraman. Khelif will fight China’s Yang Liu in the final. – dailymail.co.uk.
derick.khumalo