Weeks after winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Algeria’s Imane Khelif is inspiring women’s boxing in the North African nation.
The 25-year-old’s welterweight’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, highway billboards, and boxing gyms.
The controversy around her sexuality has had a positive image and vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her amid uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete.
Behind a door wallpapered with a large photograph of the gold medallist, punching bags hang from the ceiling of the local gym, and young girls warm up near a boxing ring surrounded by shelves of masks, gloves and mouth guards.
Boxing coach, Malika Abassi said the women imitate Khelif’s post-win celebrations, hopping around the boxing ring and saluting fans. She’s worried that the interest in boxing will grow so rapidly that her gym won’t be able to handle it.
“We’re getting calls from parents wanting to sign up their daughters,” she said. “I’m the only coach and our gym is small.”
Algerians from all walks of life flocked to squares in the country’s major cities to watch Khelif’s matches broadcast on projectors. Khelif’s story endeared her to most of the conservative country’s population, although a few prominent imams and Islamist politicians have criticized the example she sets by wearing her boxing uniform and not a headscarf.
“I’m convinced that even conservative families will allow their daughters to take up boxing,” she said. “Imane has broken through the wall of false modesty and hypocrisy.”
Algerians rallied behind Khelif in the face of criticism from Donald Trump, Elon Musk, J.K. Rowling and others who falsely claimed she was transgender. They largely interpreted attacks on her as attacks on their nation itself. And unlike much of the international community that coalesced behind Khelif, on social media most couldn’t register the thought of a transgender athlete from Algeria.
“It’s the victory of a woman who has shown extraordinary resilience and phenomenal strength of character in the face of the campaign to denigrate her gender,” Bouteldja said.
Boxing coaches and administrators said Khelif’s rise from a poor child in rural central Algeria to worldwide fame has made her an inspirational figure. Mourad Meziane, head of the Algerian Boxing League, expects a huge spike in registration among young women at the start of this school year in mid-September.
Algeria currently has 30 regional boxing leagues and 10,000 athletes participating nationwide, he said.
“The impact is inevitable and will only be very positive for women’s boxing in Algeria,” Meziane said.
Civil society figures and activists said the impact is also sure to reverberate far beyond the boxing ring.
Attorney Aouicha Bakhti said Khelif’s story will have a lasting impact on Algerian culture and be a counterweight to strands of society that discourage women’s participation in sports.
“This kind of epic helps society, ours in this case, which is in the process of retreating in the face of fundamentalist ideals,” said Bakhti, a prominent feminist and political activist.