Imane Khelif is through to the women’s 66kg semi-finals at the Olympics following victory over Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori.
The 25-year-old is now guaranteed Algeria’s first boxing medal since 2000 and their first ever in women’s boxing following her unanimous decision win in the quarter-final in Paris. She now faces Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng in the semi-finals on August 6.
Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting have been in the spotlight in recent days as part of a eligibility row that has dominated headlines and been the subject of social media discussion.
Khelif and Lin are both allowed to take part in the Olympics, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopting different criteria to the International Boxing Association (IBA) which disqualified both from last year’s World Championships due to the results of an unspecified eligibility test.
Khelif won her round-of-16 clash with Angela Carini in the women’s 66kg category in just 46 seconds on Thursday after the Italian quit, saying at the time: “I preferred to stop for my health,” which sparked a row over Khelif’s involvement.
Carini apologised for her reaction post-fight and told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport: “All this controversy makes me sad. I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”
Khelif and Hamori trade punches
That victory set up a meeting with Hamori in the final eight on Saturday and, cheered on by Algerian fans in the North Paris Arena, Khelif tested her opponent with a series of stinging jabs.
Hamori responded with a few good shots of her own, including a big right hook in the second round, but Khelif remained in control, throwing some good body combinations.
The Algerian threw another huge punch to Hamori’s face in the third round and Khelif emerged victorious on unanimous decision.
The father of Khelif defended his daughter ahead of her latest win, telling Sky News: “My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl. She’s a strong girl. I raised her to be hard-working and brave. She has a strong will to work and to train.”
IOC president Thomas Bach insisted on Saturday there was “never any doubt” that Khelif and Yu-ting are women.
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IOC president Thomas Bach says they will not take part in a ‘politically motivated war’, calling the treatment of the Olympic boxers on social media ‘totally unacceptable’
“Let’s be very clear, we are talking about women’s boxing,” Bach said. “We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman.”
The Hungarian Boxing Federation said on Friday that it had asked the country’s Olympic Committee (MOB) and the IOC to object to Khelif’s participation.
The Bulgarian Olympic Committee said it voiced its concerns during a meeting with the IOC’s Medical and Scientific Commission on July 27, with its boxer Svetlana Staneva due to face Lin on Sunday.
Lin also won her women’s -57kg fight on Friday with a unanimous decision victory over Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova.
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Sky Sports News reporter Geraint Hughes explains some of the politics going on behind the boxing controversy in Paris and what it could mean for the next Olympics
The IBA has defended its decision to ban both boxers as “justified” and based on safety concerns and criticised the IOC for its “inconsistencies in eligibility”.
The IBA also said it will award Carini the prize money she would have won had she become Olympic champion.
It recently announced plans to award $50,000 (£39,000) to any boxers who win a gold medal at the Games.
Watch the Zak Chelli vs Callum Simpson British and Commonwealth title fight live on Sky Sports Action from 7.30pm and Sky Sports Main Event from 9pm this evening.