The gender controversy at the Olympics has taken to the streets — but in celebration.
Thousands of fans exulted in Algeria, throwing a party in honor of boxer Imane Khelif’s historic gold medal victory on Friday when she defeated China’s Yang Liu in the women’s welterweight division.
It was a complete party scene in the major Algerian cities with DJ booths set up, artists painted pictures of Khelif and flares were released to celebrate the county’s second gold medal in Paris after Kaylia Nemour broke a 12-year medal drought with a gold medal in the uneven bars final for gymnastics.
It’s also a very significant bright spot for Khelif after the boxer continuously had her gender questioned throughout the 2024 Summer Games.
Both the gender of Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting were put into question after they were disqualified from the 2023 World Championship and banned from the International Boxing Association (IBA) after failing gender eligibility tests.
On Monday, the IBA secretary general Chris Roberts said that the IBA will not reveal those test results, but suggested “you can read between the lines what it means.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has different eligibility tests and has banned the IBA from the Olympics, has defended the boxers throughout the games.
“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, and has a female passport,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said of Khelif.
IOC President Thomas Bach also said any hatred directed towards either Khelif or Yu-Ting is “totally unacceptable.”
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A similar celebration could happen in Taiwan on Saturday afternoon, as Yu-Ting’s gold medal women’s 57kg bout is set for 3:30 p.m. ET.
She has dealt with similar scrutiny as Khelif, and several of her opponents have made X symbol gestures following bouts to seemingly represent female chromosomes.
