"These are enemies of success": Imane Khelif shuts critics after winning women’s 66kg final

Khelif comprehensively won the women’s 66kg final at Roland Garros, having been the focus of intense scrutiny in the French capital in the past fortnight

Algerian gender-row boxer Imane Khelif said that winning Paris Olympics gold on Friday was the perfect response to “attacks” and “bullying”, and declared: “I am a woman like any other.”

Khelif comprehensively won the women’s 66kg final at Roland Garros, having been the focus of intense scrutiny in the French capital in the past fortnight. 

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Together with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, Khelif was disqualified from last year’s world championships after they failed gender eligibility testing. 

However they were cleared to compete in Paris, setting the stage for one of the biggest controversies of the Games. After receiving a phone call from the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the triumphant 25-year-old told beIN Sports: “I was subjected to bullying and a fierce campaign and this is the greatest response to them.” With the gold medal hanging around her neck, Khelif was asked at a packed press conference about the eligibility row that dogged her Games.

“I am fully qualified to take part, I am a woman like any other. I was born a woman, lived a woman and competed as a woman. “These are enemies of success,” she added. “That gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.”

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