Imane Khelif: I was born a woman, I’ve lived as a woman and competed as a woman

Imane Khelif said questions over her eligibility made victory taste even sweeter after she eased to Olympic boxing gold on a packed Philippe-Chatrier Court at Roland Garros on Friday night.

Thousands of Algerian fans roared the 25-year-old welterweight to a unanimous decision over China’s reigning world champion Yang Liu, dominating their three-round bout before being carried on a lap of honour around the arena by her jubilant cornermen.

Khelif and Chinese Taipei boxer Lin Yu-ting were both cleared to compete by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), despite being banned by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023 for allegedly failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.

“I am fully qualified to take part in this competition – I am a woman,” said Khelif at a post-fight press conference. “I was born a woman, I’ve lived as a woman and I’ve competed as a woman. There’s no doubt that there are enemies of success, and that gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.”

The IBA had failed to provide any concrete evidence of the testing process or results at a chaotic press conference staged by the discredited governing body in Paris last week.

The IBA has been barred from involvement in each of the last two Olympic boxing tournaments by the IOC over financial and corruption concerns and its president Umar Kremlev has repeatedly railed against the governance of IOC president Thomas Bach.

Kremlev, or the IBA, has variously alleged the presence of XY chromosomes or elevated testosterone levels in tests supposedly submitted by Khelif and Lin, but the presented evidence has often been contradictory and is as yet unsubstantiated.

Khelif added: “Since 2018 I’ve been boxing under the umbrella of the IBA.