“This is a victory for all women!” Imane KhelifShe was in tears, surrounded by a crowd of at least 200 eager journalists, lowering the flag of feminism, shaking with emotion as her trainers and assistants held her enthusiasm and even her own body, in this fight. It was much more than a passport to the semi-finals of the Olympic boxing tournament. “After the fight, everything fell apart,” she later told this newspaper. Coach Mohammed Chaoua.

Because during the entire session at the Paris Nord Arena this Saturday, there was not a single fighter who took as much breath as Khelif. intersex womanwas recently murdered by LGTBIphobia. “He is the symbol of all Algeria! Everyone is behind him”Bachir Mokhtari, a member of the Algerian boxing team, spoke to this newspaper ahead of the fight against Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori, which the Algerian athlete won by unanimous decision.

Attacks on Khelif

The Olympic Games are not about records, victories, medals or podiums. They are about stories. And Khelif, the intersex boxer who won the medal, didn’t necessarily have a story. But after the International Boxing Association banned him from high-level competitions, and the IOC allowed him to compete in Paris as it did in Tokyo, they built it around him. The testosterone, a result of the hyperandrogenism he was born with. That’s why the tears, the emotion, the excitement of the Paris Nord Arena for him. a victim of LGTBIphobia who cares has exceeded the limits of legitimate scientific debate that could be generated regarding its participation in the international competition.


Khelif was emotional after his victory. Miguel Tona / Efe


Khelif competed, Khelif won, to the joy of a pavilion full of citizens. Khelif celebrated, blew kisses to the sky, made a ring signing gesture, and gave the military salute to his fans. Khelif remained calm for a few seconds until he approached the closest ones still at ringside and broke down emotionally, overwhelmed by what could have been a human situation. “I am very proud to bring a medal to my country. I worked very hard to achieve this”she stammered, and then carried half the world on her shoulders: “This is a victory for all women!”

Support from Boulmerka

“Take him away, take him away!”As Khelif’s coach passed the area where journalists were killed in one scene, a female voice shouted with excitement. With volunteers overwhelmed guarding the area, it is an expectation that neither Marchand, nor Biles, nor LeBron James will be able to meet at these Games. It is an unprecedented frenzy for an athlete whose name was unknown until a few days ago.

It turned out to be the female voice Hassiba BoulderIn 1995, the Prince of Asturias award, 1,500 gold in the 92nd place in Barcelona, ​​today he is the secretary general of the Algerian Olympic Committee. “I was the first gold medalist of Algeria and I would like him to come after me, to be my heir,” he later explained to this newspaper with extreme enthusiasm.


Khelif was far superior to his opponent. ALI HAIDER / AP


“It’s okay for us, the IOC president spoke and said she’s a woman and always has been,” said Mokhtari, a member of her team, regarding Thomas Bach’s statement that she condemned. “unacceptable hatred” It poured towards Khelif.

With the support of the IOC, the fans and the entire country, Khelif justified herself as a woman and an athlete against her opponent, who, unlike the Italian Carini, greeted and congratulated her naturally after she had clearly lost the fight. “I respect him, I have no problems with him”said the Hungarian.

The excitement around Khelif will no doubt continue when he faces Thailand’s Suwannapheng in the semi-finals on Tuesday in search of a gold medal match. Medal of righteousness against hatred and discrimination against those who are differentAfter all, isn’t that what the Olympic Games are about?