On Friday evening Algerian boxer Khelif defeated China’s Yang Liu by unanimous decision in the gold medal bout of the women’s 66kg boxing.
The 26-year-old made history by becoming only the second Algerian boxer to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.
Khelif’s route to the final was overshadowed by controversy over her eligibility to fight in the women’s competition.
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Khelif was disqualified from the Women’s World Boxing Championships last year after she failed gender eligibility tests.
The International Boxing Association [IBA] did not not disclose exactly what the tests were, but IBA president Umar Kremlev claimed that she had XY chromosomes.
No evidence has ever been produced to support that claim.
The IBA does not govern Olympic boxing due to governance issues, and Khelif passed the International Olympic Committee’s own eligibility tests.
Khelif was born a female and has always identified as female.
The Algerian’s name made headlines last week after her fight with Italian Angela Carini ended after just 46 seconds, with the Italian leaving the ring in tears. The 25-year-old boxer has since faced backlash across social media after erroneous reports over her gender.
Carini has since apologised for her reaction and comments, however, Khelif continued to face an onslaught of abuse online, prompting her dad Omar Khelif to show her birth certificate on French TV to prove she was born a girl.
Despite the backlash, Khelif went on to beat Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori and Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng to earn herself a spot in the final and a guaranteed medal.
According to essentiallysports, a gold medalist boxer receives $100,000 (£78,515) prize money. Half of the prize money goes directly to the athlete, while the other half is split between the National Federation and for the coach.
Had Khelif lost the bout, she would have still received a prize of $50,000 (£39,300), $25,000 of this will go to the athlete and the other half given to the coach and the National Federation combined.
The money is awarded by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which could make things complicated for Khelif.
