The boxer emerged victorious in the welterweight bout amid a gender dispute to take Algeria's second gold medal in Paris.
Imane Khelif smiled, danced and roared with joy after beating China's Yang Liu to become the first Algerian, Arab and African woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal at the Paris Games.
The 25-year-old dominated the three-round welterweight bout and was declared the winner by unanimous decision by the judges at the Rolland-Garros Stadium in the French capital on Friday night.
The Algerian, who had been at the centre of a gender row that was one of the main talking points of the Olympics, never looked like she was in trouble as she enjoyed the backing of an enthusiastic Algerian crowd in the stands of the Court Philippe-Chatrier.
She became embroiled in a gender debate after a 2023 ruling by the now-banned International Boxing Association (IBA) resurfaced, disqualifying her for failing a gender eligibility test.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has rejected the results of the tests ordered by the IBA as arbitrary and illegitimate and said there was no reason to carry them out.
Khelif's supporters came prepared with the Algerian flag and let out a loud roar as Khelif entered the arena before the fight. They cheered her on from the first round to the medal ceremony, as Khelif stood proudly in the centre of the podium with a gold medal on her chest.
“It was my dream [to win this medal] “And I'm very happy today to be an Olympic gold medallist,” Khelif told the BBC after winning the fight.
“Eight years of hard work, eight years of [being] too tired, eight years without sleep – [this is] “Fantastic,” he added.
🇩🇿🥇 IMane KHELIF GOLD MEDAL!
Algerian women continue to make us proud #Olympics #Paris2024 image.twitter.com/xYe4eMGHWI
— Algeria FC (@Algeria_FC) August 9, 2024
The 66kg bout was the final match of a hectic night of medal fights at the games.
Yang started the first round strong and tried to push Khelif back, but the fighter from northwestern Algeria was not to be intimidated and countered with a strong strike towards the end of the first round to win easily.
The Algerian gave no respite in the second round and although Yang tried to fight back, she could not do enough to emerge victorious.
In the third round, Yang seemed to have lost the power to be the aggressor and while Khelif waited for her to attack, the Chinese fighter missed several punches and seemed to have accepted defeat.
«Algeria is very happy today»
Dressed in red and wearing a winner's smile, Khelif walked to the center of the ring for the referee to raise her left hand in victory. She then waved to the crowd before beginning her trademark dance around the ring.
It was a stark contrast to the scene at the end of their quarter-final fight, where she cried while hugging her team.
As soon as Khelif stepped out of the ring, her team members held her high on their shoulders and walked her around the arena as the gold medalist basked in applause as she raised the Algerian flag.
The tall fighter thanked the crowd of Algerian fans who filled the stadium, as well as those who supported her from around the world while she was the subject of a gender dispute.
“I want to thank all the Algerian people here in Paris, in the world and in Algeria,” he said after the fight.
“To all the people of Algeria and all the people at my base. I want to thank the whole team, my coach. Thank you very much.”
“Algeria is very happy today.”
