Algeria’s Imane Khelif beats Yang Liu to win boxing gold at Paris Olympics
Paris (AP): Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has won a gold medal Friday at the Paris Olympics, emerging a champion from a tumultuous run at the Games where she endured intense scrutiny in the ring and online abuse from around the world over misconceptions about her womanhood.
Khelif beat Yang Liu of China 5:0 in the final of the women's welterweight division, wrapping up the best series of fights of her boxing career with a victory at Roland Garros, where crowds chanted her name, waved Algerian flags and roared every time she landed a punch.
After her unanimous win, Khelif jumped into her coaches' arms, one of them putting her on his shoulders and carrying her in a victory lap as she pumped her fists and grabbed an Algerian flag from the crowd.
“For eight years, this has been my dream, and I'm now the Olympic champion and gold medalist,” Khelif said through an interpreter. Asked about the scrutiny, she told reporters: “That also gives my success a special taste because of those attacks.”
“We are in the Olympics to perform as athletes, and I hope that we will not see any similar attacks in future Olympics,” she said.
Fans have embraced Khelif in Paris even as she faced an extraordinary amount of scrutiny from world leaders, major celebrities and others who have questioned her eligibility or falsely claimed she was a man. It has thrust her into a larger divide over changing attitudes toward gender identity and regulations in sports.
It stems from the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association's decision to disqualify Khelif and fellow two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan from last year's world championships, claiming both failed an eligibility test for women's competition that IBA officials have declined to answer basic questions about.
“I'm fully qualified to take part in this competition,” Khelif said Friday. “I'm a woman like any other woman. I was born as a woman, I live as a woman, and I am qualified."
The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step last year of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics following years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. The IOC has called the arbitrary sex tests that the sport's governing body imposed on the two boxers irretrievably flawed.
The IOC has repeatedly reaffirmed the two boxers' right to compete in Paris, with President Thomas Bach personally defending Khelif and Lin while calling the criticism “hate speech.”
Khelif noted that she has boxed in IBA competitions since 2018 but now “they hate me, and I don't know why."
"I sent them a single message with this gold medal, and that is that my dignity and honor are above all else,” she said.
The IBA's reputation hasn't stopped the international outcry tied to misconceptions around the fighters, which has been amplified by Russian disinformation networks. It also hasn't slowed two boxers who have performed at the highest levels of their careers while under the spotlight's glare.
Khelif was dominant in Paris at a level she had never reached before: She won every round on every judge's scorecard in each of her three fights that went the distance.
Khelif's gold medal is Algeria's first in women's boxing. She is only the nation's second boxing gold medalist, joining Hocine Soltani (1996) while claiming the seventh gold medal in Algeria's Olympic history.
While Khelif drew enthusiastic, flag-draped fans in Paris, she also has become a hero in her North African country, where many have seen the world's dissection of Khelif as criticism of their nation.
Dubbed “The Night of Destiny” in local newspapers, Khelif's fight was projected on screens set up in public squares throughout Algiers and other cities. In the city of Tiaret in the region where Khelif is from, workers braved scorching summer heat to paint a mural of Khelif on the gym where she learned to box.
“Imane has managed to turn the criticism and attacks on her femininity into fuel,” said Mustapha Bensaou of the Tiaret gym. “The slander has given her a boost. ... It's a bit of a blessing in disguise.”
Khelif won the first round over Yang on all five judges' cards despite showing a bit less aggression than earlier in the tournament. Khelif then knocked Yang back against the ropes with a combination early in the second, although Yang responded with a flurry of shots and fought gamely.
Khelif won the second round and cruised through the third, doing a triumphant boxer's shuffle in the final seconds of the bout before the boxers hugged. When the verdict was announced, Khelif saluted and pumped her arm with glee.
During the medal ceremony, she grinned and waved to the crowd before kissing her gold medal. The four medalists — boxing gives out two bronze — then posed for a podium selfie, clasped hands and raised them together.
The gold medal fight was the culmination of Khelif's nine-day run through an Olympic tournament that began bizarrely. Khelif's first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, abandoned their bout after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khelif's punches.
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Modi govt making banks 'collection agents' of 'loot': Kharge after hike in ATM withdrawal charges
New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI): The Congress on Saturday hit out at the Modi government after the RBI's decision to allow banks to increase charges on ATM cash withdrawals, and said banks have been reduced to "collection agents" to "loot" citizens.
Giving a list of charges levied by banks, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said a "painful" price rise and "unbridled loot" was the BJP's mantra.
"Our banks have been unfortunately made 'collection agents' by the Modi government! ATM withdrawal charges to be costlier," Kharge said in a post on X.
"The Modi government has extracted at least Rs 43,500 crore due to non-maintenance of minimum balance from savings accounts and Jan Dhan accounts combined, between 2018 and 2024," he said.
"Other bank charges to LOOT citizens - an inactivity fee, which is Rs 100-200 every year. Bank statement issuance fee is Rs 50-100. Rs 20-25 per quarter is charged for SMS alerts. Banks charge 1-3 per cent as loan processing fees," he added.
The Congress chief also claimed that if a loan is paid on time, loan pre-closure charges are levied by banks, and NEFT and demand draft charges are an additional burden. KYC updates like signature changes also attract fees, he claimed.
"Earlier, the Union government used to provide the data of the amount collected by these charges in the Parliament, but now this practice has also been discontinued by saying 'RBI doesn't maintain such data'.
"Painful Price Rise + Unbridled Loot = BJP's Mantra for Extortion!," Kharge posted.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday permitted banks to increase charges on ATM cash withdrawals beyond the mandatory free monthly usage by Rs 2 to Rs 23 per transaction from May 1.
Customers are eligible for five free transactions (inclusive of financial and non-financial transactions) every month from their own bank Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
They are also eligible for free transactions (inclusive of financial and non-financial transactions) from other bank ATMs -- three transactions in metro centres and five in non-metro centres.
