Imane Khelif of Algeria beat Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng in women's 66-kg boxing semifinals Tuesday to advance to the gold medal round.
Khelif continues to compete in women's boxing in the 2024 Paris Olympics despite the International Boxing Association (IBA) finding though blood tests Khelif possesses XY (male) chromosomes.
Khelif, who beat Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori Saturday , will advance to the finals, held Friday. Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, who the IBA also found to have XY chromosomes will fight Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey in the women's 57-kilogram semi-final Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. MT.
In Olympic boxing, all athletes who advance to the semi-finals are guaranteed to win a medal because rather than hold a bronze medal match, both players automatically receive a bronze.
The Algerian boxer swept his opponent in all three rounds, in decisions made by five male judges, including one Canadian. The crowd erupted in cheers in support of Khelif, who has only been boxing for eight years.
"She has never had it easy," said the CBC commentator during the first round.
"Neither fighter willing to get too close," commented another pundit.
"That's just a glimpse of Khelif, in terms of armoury," said a commentator after a play by the Algerian in the second round.
"An absolute economy in effort in what she's doing," he said.
As the boxing match neared its end, the CBC commentator said, "She'll go all out in the next few seconds, to appease to many, many fans."
"I'll say it again, Khelif has never, ever had it easy. Maybe her happy place is in the ring."
Little was said about Suwannapheng, except a flippant comment at the end that the Thai boxer had "bright intentions early on."
"But soon enough, she was coming off second in nearly every exchange," marvelled the pundit.