Algerian boxer Imane Khelif clinches medal at Paris Olympics after gender outcry
Villepinte (France), Aug 3: Boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria clinched a medal at the Paris Olympics in an emotional fight Saturday that followed days of sharp scrutiny and online abuse as misconceptions about her gender have exploded into a larger clash about identity in sports.
Khelif defeated Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary 5:0 in the quarterfinals of the women's 66-kilogram bout. Khelif will win at least a bronze medal after defeating Hamori for the second victory of her tumultuous second trip to the Olympics. Hungary's boxing association said it planned to contest the matchup with the International Olympic Committee but still let the fight go ahead.
Khelif faced outcry after the banned International Boxing Association claimed she failed an unspecified eligibility test to compete last year over elevated levels of testosterone. She won her opening bout at the Paris Games on Thursday when opponent Angela Carini of Italy tearfully abandoned the fight after just 46 seconds.
The unusual ending became a sharp wedge to drive into an already prominent divide over gender identity and regulations in sports, drawing comments from the likes of former U.S. President Donald Trump, “Harry Potter” writer J.K. Rowling and others falsely claiming Khelif was a man or transgender.
At a Paris Games that has championed inclusion and seen other outcry over an opening ceremony performance featuring drag queens, LGBTQ+ groups say the hateful comments could pose dangers to their community and female athletes.
Khelif's win was emotional — she went to the center of the ring, waved to her fans, knelt and slammed her palm on the canvas, her a smile turning to tears. She left the ring to hug her coaches while her fans roared, weeping during their embrace and as she walked out.
IOC President Thomas Bach on Saturday defended Khelif and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan. Khelif and Lin were disqualified in the middle of last year's world championships by the IBA, the former governing body of Olympic boxing after what it claimed were failed eligibility tests.
Both had competed in IBA events for several years without problems, and the Russian-dominated body — which has faced years of clashes with the IOC over judging scandals, leadership decisions and financial issues — has refused to provide any information about the tests, underscoring its lack of transparency in nearly every aspect of its dealings, particularly in recent years.
“Let's be very clear here: We are talking about women's boxing,” Bach said Saturday. “We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised a woman, who have a passport as a woman, and who have competed for many years as women. And this is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman.”
The IBA, which is led by an acquaintance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, disqualified Khelif last year but has not released more details on the tests, calling the process confidential. It faced the unprecedented punishment of being banned from Olympic participation in 2019 following years of conflict with the IOC.
“What we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman,” Bach added. “And there I can only invite them to come up with a scientific-based new definition of who is a woman, and how can somebody being born, raised, competed and having a passport as a woman cannot be considered a woman?
“If they are coming up with something, we are ready to listen,” Bach added. "We are ready to look into it, but we will not take part in a sometimes politically motivated cultural war.”
On Saturday, Khelif fought aggressively from the opening bell, snapping a crisp left jab while the fighters circled. Her fans chanted her first name repeatedly midway through the opening round, and she bounded forward to throw a combination.
The exhausted fighters had a halfhearted hug after the bell, but they touched fists and exchanged smiles right before the verdict was announced. They touched hands again when Khelif held down the ropes to allow Hamori to leave the ring in a traditional boxing gesture of sportsmanship.
Khelif, who had failed to medal at the Tokyo Games held in 2021, will face Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand in the 66-kg semifinals on Tuesday at Roland Garros. Suwannpheng, a silver medalist at last year's world championships, upset defending Olympic champion Busenaz Surmeneli a few minutes before Khelif's victory.
As for Lin, also a two-time Olympian, she would clinch her first medal Sunday if she beats Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria.
Amid the scrutiny, both Khelif and Lin have received only cheers from the crowds at North Paris Arena.
“What is going on in this context in the social media, with all this hate speech, with all this aggression and abuse, and fueled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable,” Bach said.
The reduced field at the Paris Olympics boxing tournament — which has the fewest number of total boxers since 1956 — means that many fighters can clinch medals with just two victories. Boxing awards two bronze medals in each weight class, which means every semifinalist wins a medal.
The Olympic sport reached gender parity for the first time in Paris, inviting 124 men and 124 women.
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
