Breaking barriers: Algerian woman boxer strives to inspire and overcome prejudices

Born in a poor village some 300 kilometres from Algiers, boxer Imane Khelif had to overcome obstacles in a conservative country where women are considered unfit for the sport.

With braided hair and a powerful 1.79 metre (5 foot 9 inch) physique, the 25-year-old is the object of a Paris Olympic Games gender controversy.

With smiles and a soft voice, Imane told her story on television channel Canal Algerie one month before the start of the games.

"Our village was around 10 kilometres from the centre (of Tiaret, 280 kilometres southwest of Algiers). I moved from the village to the city. From the city to the capital. From the capital to abroad," she said.

From a family of limited means, she spoke of the difficulty of her life in "a village of conservative people" in Tiaret's semi-desert surroundings.

"I came from a conservative family. Boxing is not a widely-practised sport by women, especially in Algeria. It was difficult."

Already a strong athlete, she played football with the boys in her village of Biban Mesbah -- but beating boys in matches brought on fights where she fought back with punches.

These fights lead her to boxing.

In an interview with UNICEF, she said she used to sell scrap metal and her mother sold homemade couscous to pay for bus tickets to Tiaret.

Imane's father at first did not approve of her decision to pursue boxing, but he eventually became one of her biggest fans.

The 49-year-old unemployed welder told AFP that his daughter is "an example of the Algerian woman, a heroine of Algeria".

  'How society looked at me'  

He hailed "her strong will to work and to train", in an interview with AFP on Friday.

In 2022, Imane told the Algerian news agency APS that she had considered giving up boxing "because my family did not accept the idea, and because of how society looked at me, considering that I was doing something wrong."

But "all these barriers made me even stronger and were an extra motivation to achieve my dreams."

She also expressed her determination in an interview on the UNICEF website, where she said her "dream is to win a gold medal".

"If I win, mothers and fathers will be able to see how far their children can go," she said. "I want to inspire girls and children in Algeria."

Imane's international career took off with her participation in the lightweight category in the 2020 summer Olympic Games in Tokyo -- postponed to 2021 -- where she won fifth place after losing in the quarter finals to Ireland's Kellie Harlington.

"Everything changed for the better, especially as my country's flag flew and its hymn played in many countries throughout the world", she explained.

In 2023, she made it to the semi-finals of the women's amateur boxing world championships in New Delhi, India.

But then she was disqualified following unspecified gender eligibility testing by the International Boxing Association, which is not recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

After her match against Italian opponent Angela Carini this week in the Paris Games -- whom she beat in less than a minute -- Imane was targeted by online harassment and racism, where far-right publications insinuated that she was "a man fighting women".

Her father has dismissed aspersions about her gender, saying she is "a strong and courageous girl."

And the IOC has supported her participation, amid the furore over Khelif and another woman boxer also disqualified from last year's world championships.

"All of the competitors respect the eligibility rules for the competitions," said Mark Adams, IOC spokesman, adding that it had "established that these are women."

Imane's coach, Mohamed Chaoua, said the "controversies give her the strength to move forward".

Meanwhile, 

The Algerian boxer embroiled in a major gender controversy guaranteed herself at least bronze at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, bursting into tears after winning her quarter-final.

Imane Khelif, who has found herself in the eye of a global storm along with another boxer from Taiwan, beat Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori with a unanimous points decision to reach the semi-finals of the women's 66kg category.

The duo embraced at the end, before the judges' verdict was delivered, and an animated Khelif left the ring in tears.

Losing semi-finalists in the boxing take home bronze.

Some of the crowd at North Paris Arena, where there were a large number of Algerians, chanted Khelif's name ahead of the bout and cheered her into the ring.

Hamori, who had said it was unfair to face Khelif, was booed into the venue but was magnanimous in defeat.

Khelif faces Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand in the last four on Tuesday for a place in the final.

"This is a matter of dignity and honour for every woman or female," the 25-year-old Khelif told BeIN Sports after a second dominant victory in Paris, having dismantled her opening opponent in 46 seconds.

"The entire Arab people have known me for years. For years I have been boxing in international federation competitions, they (IBA) were unfair with me. But I have God."

Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting can also guarantee herself at least a bronze medal on Sunday when she faces Bulgaria's Svetlana Staneva in the quarter-finals of the women's 57kg.

Khelif and Lin were disqualified from last year's world championships, run by the International Boxing Association (IBA), after failing gender eligibility tests.

The controversy ignited on Thursday when Khelif needed less than a minute to force an abandonment against her hurt and tearful Italian opponent Angela Carini.

Carini, who suffered a badly hurt nose and was distressed, collapsed to the centre of the ring in tears.

Khelif and Lin, 28, both competed at the Tokyo Games three years ago, where they failed to win a medal.

They were then disqualified from the IBA's 2023 world championships.

The IBA said this week that the two boxers "did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test, whereby the specifics remain confidential".

The boxing in Paris is organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which took over because of governance, financial and ethical issues at the IBA.

The IOC has leapt to the defence of Khelif and Lin, with president Thomas Bach on Saturday saying they were born and raised as women, and have passports saying that.

Neither boxer is known to identify as transgender.

Khelif's father Omar told AFP from their Algerian village: "My child is a girl.

"She was raised as a girl. She is a strong girl -- I raised her to work and be brave."