BREAKING: History As Imane Khelif Wins Algeria’s 1st Olympic Medal In Women’s Boxing Amidst Gender Row—-Algeria’s Imane Khelif secured Algeria’s first Olympics medal in women’s boxing on Saturday, 3 August after beating Hungary’s Anna Hamori via unanimous decision. Khelif, who was at the centre of gender row since her last bout at the Paris Olympics, put in a dominating show in her quarter-final round. The boxer was in tears after securing a win on Saturday.
Imane Khelif dominated the fight from the very first round, winning it via a unanimous 5-0 margin. The only time that she got into trouble was when the Hungarian fighter’s straight jab hit her nose. Imane did not even flinch at the hit and got on with her punches. The round was judged 5-0 unanimously.
Khelif however, was warned in the first round by the Indian referee for punching the back of the head at Hamori. After an intense first-round bout, Hamori was quite subdued in the second round, and tried to evade Khelif’s punches. Hamori had small moments in the second round and got punched hard in the face by Khelif which shook her belief.
The second round had Imane Khelif take a big lead over Hamori, who was awarded an 8 and four 9s. Hamori did better in the third and the final round of the match, but once again was subdued against Khelif. Despite getting a point deducted for holding, Khelif won the fight by unanimous decision from the judges.
Khelif fought her bout just days after she was at the centre of a massive gender row. Many had called Imane a man and slammed the International Olympic Committee for letting her fight in the women’s division.
The IOC reverted back with a strong statement on Khelif and called out the hate and misinformation being spread about her. IOC, in a strongly worded statement, cleared that Khelif was born a woman and was fighting in the appropriate event
