Boxer Imane Khelif Wins Gold Medal at the Paris Olympics

Mar. 15, 2025

Imane Khelif.Photo:Richard Pelham/Getty

Richard Pelham/Getty

Algerian boxerImane Khelifis officially an Olympic gold medalist! During the match on Friday, Aug. 9, Khelif defeated China’s Yang Liu to earn a spot atop of the podium.

She then moved onto the final on Friday, where she faced off against Liu, winning the first round 10-9 and then taking the second before holding onto her lead to finish out the match.

“IMANE KHELIF GOLD MEDAL ! Algerian women continue to make us proud #Olympics #Paris2024,” the Algeria FC accountposted on X(formerly Twitter) following Khelif’s achievement. In a secondpost, they added: “🇩🇿🥇 To all the haters all around the world .. Imene Khelif says 🤫”

Imane Khelif.Richard Pelham/Getty

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“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects,” Khelif told the outlet.

“It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying,” the boxer continued.

Khelif’s statements followed the intense controversy and online scrutiny during her match with Carini who bowed out just 46 seconds into their match on Thursday, Aug. 1. Carini, 25, exited the ring, citing an injury, according to theAssociated PressandReuters.

However, the test results were not transparent, and the IBA has since been suspended from being part of the IOC due to questions about corruption and judging issues,according to ESPN.

Carinihas since apologizedafter failing to shake Khelif’s hand after her opponent had been declared the winner. “All this controversy certainly made me sad, and I also felt sorry for my opponent, she had nothing to do with it and like me was only here to fight,” Carini toldLa Gazzetta dello Sport.

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source: people.com