'You are the heroine, you are gold': Twitter reacts as gender row boxer Iman Khelif secures Olympics bronze

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Amid harsh scrutiny, social media trials and questions over her gender, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif secured her country's first Olympics medal in women's boxing by beating Hungary's Anna Hamori 5:0 and qualifying for the semi-finals on Saturday, August 3.

Imane Khelif was given the tag of a 'male boxer' soon after her previous opponent Angela Carini from Italy, pulled out just 46 seconds after the start of the bout. The Italian boxer said the punch from Khelif was the hardest she had received in her career.

"I am heartbroken, I went to the ring to honour my father. I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this," Carini, who walked out of the ring sobbing, said.

Notably, Imane Khelif was banned from the 2023 World Championship in New Delhi for failing the gender eligibility test. The dramatic turn of events had created a huge furore in the boxing world and at the Paris Olympics 2024, with many questioning Khelif's presence in the women's competition even as the IOC put up a stout defence of their decision to allow the Algerian to compete as a female.

The online outrage against Imane Khelif and her gender included comments from former US President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, author JK Rowling, Italy PM Giorgia Meloni. Thousands joined them and alleged that Khelif was a man or transgender.

Imane Khelif's opponent on Saturday Anna Luca Hamori also shared vile posts from her Instagram handle to demean the Algerian ahead of the match. However, Khelif braved all the odds and put up a spirited performance amid a sea of fans chanting 'Imane! Imane!', to beat Hamori in the quarter-final bout and script history.

The 25-year-old broke into tears after securing a bronze for Algeria, who are yet to win a medal at the ongoing Paris Olympics. There was a massive support for Khelif at the North Paris Arena throughout the match, and Khelif could not hold back her tears as she relished her dream of making her parents and country proud, amid all the negative publicity.

Fans soon took to social media to celebrate Imane Khelif thumping win, and hailed her strong character to win the boxing bout via unanimous decision after dealing with so much abuse and hate comments in the last couple of days.