While the media, the world of sport, and the public followed the controversy around Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who won a gold medal in women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics, Algerians only saw one thing every time she stepped into the ring: a brave woman who made their country proud.
Nesreen Yousfi, from Algiers (edited by Rogerio Simoes)
Imane Khelif’s father, Omar, disapproved of his daughter boxing when she began training at the age of 16. “I grew up in conservative region and a conservative family. Boxing was considered a sport solely for men,” the Algerian boxer said, in an interview with Canal Algerie.
Raised in a poor family in a small rural village in north-western Algeria, as a teenager Khelif would travel 10 kilometres to the training centre in her province’s capital, Tiaret. She would sell scrap metal for recycling while her mother sold couscous to afford the bus journey. As she gradually climbed up the ranks, her parents became her biggest fans.
Nine years after embracing the sport, in just 46 seconds the now 25-year-old brought her opponent, Italian Angela Carini, to surrender in the 2024 Summer Olympics welterweight preliminaries. Khelif’s display of strength and skills would be the first in a winning streak that led to her first Olympic gold medal – and Algeria’s, Africa’s, and the Arab world’s first in women’s boxing.
For Algerians, the fact that her achievement came in the context of a major controversy around Khelif’s eligibility to compete as a female boxer did not matter. On the streets, in the media, and in the corridors of power, she was a real national heroine and a champion of Algerian women’s rights to follow their dreams.
Khelif’s final match was screened in central Algiers to thousands of people, all of them throwing their passion and belief in support of their champion. When her efforts turned to gold, the supporters celebrated her victory into the late hours of the night – a sign of how much her story had resonated with ordinary Algerian citizens, proud of seeing one of them taken to the highest spot of the most important sports events in the world to receive the most valuable honour. “She is an example of the Algerian woman, a heroine of Algeria”, Khelif’s father said, in an interview with news agency AFP.
That pride and excitement also reached the highest levels of power in her home country. Upon her return to Algeria, the golden boxer was honoured by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune – alongside the gymnast and also gold medalist Kaylia Nemour and Djamel Sedjati, bronze medallist in athletics men’s 800m – with the National Order of Merit. Khelif also received great support from the local media and has been sharing her story on Algerian news channels.
Eligibility controversy
Before the scenes of elation in Algiers, Khelif endured days of a long-running war of words over her eligibility to compete as a woman, throwing her to the centre of one of the biggest controversies ever seen in olympic history.
According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the fierce debate can be traced back to claims made by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023. The IBA, which is no longer recognised by the IOC due to concerns around its governance and allegations of corruption, disqualified Khelif and another female boxer, Lin Yu Ting from Taiwan, towards the end of the 2023 IBA World Championships, alleging they had failed unspecified gender eligibility tests.
The IOC defended both athletes, saying they “were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA [and] were disqualified without any due process”. The Olympic body then took the unusual decision to intervene in the selection process for the Paris Games and open its doors, allowing both athletes to compete.
After swiftly defeating Carini on the 1st of August, Khelif was struck by a wave of online harassment accusing her of being a transgender or a biological man guilty of violence against women. Unverified claims of Khelif having XY chromosomes, so-called Differences in Sex Development (DSD), and/or elevated testosterone levels began to circulate.
The blow worsened as multiple public figures chimed in on social media, including former U.S President Donald Trump, businessman Elon Musk, and novelist J.K Rowling, the latter two of whom have been cited in a lawsuit filed by Khelif for cyberbullying just hours before winning her gold medal, on the 9th of August. Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi released a statement the following day saying: “The criminal investigation shall determine who was behind this misogynistic, racist, and sexist campaign, but will also look into those who fuelled this digital lynching”.
Gender transitioning is not permitted in Algeria. Khelif was assigned female at birth, a proof that was delivered by her father in an interview with Reuters. “I fully qualify to take part in this competition”, Khelif said in a press conference after winning her medal. “I am a woman, like any other woman. I was born a woman, I have lived as a woman, I compete as a woman.”
Brave Algerian women
Khelif, who became a Unicef ambassador earlier this year, has highlighted that opportunities for sports in Algeria are often limited for girls, particularly in rural areas, which are typically less economically developed and more conservative.
With a lot of progress to be made on women’s rights, however, the country is no stranger to women being at the forefront of its sports victories.
In 1992, the North African country was plunged into a decade-long civil war against the outlawed Islamist party, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). With more conservative religious views on the rise, freedom of expression was restricted, and many women sought the confinements of their homes out of safety. It was at this point of decline in women’s rights that Algeria won its first ever Olympic gold, seized by a woman: middle-distance runner Hassiba Boulmerka, at the 1992 Summer games.
Boulmerka’s international success had already started in the previous year, when she won the 1500m at the World Championships, becoming the first African woman to earn an athletics world title. Her triumph was met with bouquets, crowds, and cheering fans back home. However, the horrors of the civil war made many public figures a target, and Boulmerka received death threats from fundamentalists for running in shorts and exposing her arms.
Fearing for her life, she moved to Germany to train ahead of the Olympics. In 2012 she recalled her moment of victory to the BBC: “As I crossed the line, I thrust a fist into the air. It was a symbol of victory, of defiance. It was to say: ‘I did it! I won! And now, if you kill me, it’ll be too late. I’ve made history!'”. She added that her win was “a triumph for women all over the world to stand up to their enemies”.
In 2024, an additional Algerian gold medal was claimed at the Paris Olympics through 17-year-old Kaylia Nemour in the women’s uneven bars. Born in France to a French mother and Algerian father, Nemour represented France until she underwent a knee operation that put her at odds with The French Gymnastics Federation who prevented her from returning to competitions. She then went through a long battle against the federation to switch allegiances to Algeria to continue competing, eventually receiving authorisation in the summer of 2023.
Under the flag of her father, Nemour became the first African gymnast to win an Olympic medal and made the nation’s fans even prouder of their 2024 Olympic journey. Amongst the Khelif controversy, Algerians ignored the debates and the social media attacks in favour of the joy and pride provided by their heroine and all athletes who represented their nation’s colours.
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