Olympic women’s welterweight boxing gold medallist Imane Khelif is taking legal action after a fortnight of online abuse during the Paris Games.
The Algerian fighter has had her gender eligibility wrongly questioned in Paris since her first-round opponent Angela Carini quit just 46 seconds into the bout.
On Friday, Khelif won Algeria’s first women’s boxing medal with a decisive victory, beating Yang Liu of China.
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Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting has had a similar, albeit less publicised, battle with public scrutiny on her way to featherweight gold.
Khelif and Lin were both disqualified last year from the world championships organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), a Russian-dominated governing body banished from the Olympics.
The IBA said the boxers failed an eligibility test but has struggled to defend its claims since they resurfaced at the Olympics, occasionally giving contradictory information or saying they were asked not to give details by the boxers’ national federations.
That didn’t stop the criticism and speculation from proliferating online.
Now, Khelif’s lawyer has filed a legal complaint over the row.
“The boxer Imane Khelif has decided to begin a new fight, a fight for justice, dignity and honour,” Nabil Boudi said in a statement
Boudi said they would fight against the “aggravated online harassment” she has received.
“The investigation will determine who was behind this misogynist, racist and sexist campaign, but will also have to concern itself with those who fed the online lynching,” he added.
He called it “iniquitous harassment” and warned that it will be remembered as “the biggest stain on these Olympic Games”.
Asked after her gold medal win on Sunday (AEST) if she would follow in Khelif’s footsteps, Lin said she would consider it.
“This is something I will discuss with my team. We will decide later what the next step will be,” she said.
Speaking on Friday after the welterweight decider, Khelif poured cold water over the vitriolic controversy.
“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,” she said.
Lin beat Julia Szeremeta of Poland 5-0 in the final at Roland Garros on Saturday night (local time), capping her four-fight unbeaten run through Paris with Taiwan’s first Olympic boxing medal.
Both Khelif and Lin persevered through an avalanche of criticism and uninformed speculation about their sex during the Paris tournament to deliver the best performances of their boxing careers.
World leaders, celebrities and millions of online critics have either questioned both boxers’ eligibility to be in women’s competitions or claimed they were men.
Rather than revenge or vindication, 28-year-old Lin’s overriding emotion after her fourth-straight unanimous points victory was joy.
“I have had several years of struggle and heartbreak but my dreams have finally come true,” Lin said.
“During the fight I saw images flashing and I thought about the beginning of my career when I started boxing.
“Times I got injured and competitors I fought against, all these images flashed in my head … times of great pain, times of great joy.
“I cried (on the podium) because I represented my country and I got the gold medal … I’m so happy. I have rewritten boxing history for my country.”
Like Khelif, Lin enjoyed huge support from her home nation of Taiwan.
Lin hadn’t been as dominant or as dynamic in Paris as Khelif, who wore most of the cricitism as the Taiwanese fighter eschewed media.
“As an elite athlete during the competition, it’s important to shut myself off from social media and to focus,” Lin said.
“I was invited by the IOC to compete in the Games. I focused on the Games.”
That focus allowed Lin to steadily roll toward the final as the top seed in the women’s 57kg division.
The 1.75m Lin took the ring on Saturday to loud cheers and dozens of Olympic-style Chinese Taipei flags waving in the stands.
With quick hands, Lin dominated the first two rounds with a wealth of clear punches landed, cruising to victory by dodging a few of Szeremeta’s too-slow efforts in the final minute.
– With AAP