TIARET, Algeria: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif's poor rural hometown erupted in jubilation on Friday as she won gold at the Paris Olympics in the face of a major gender controversy.
In Biban Mesbah, a town of around 6,000 people, cheers erupted at Khelif's name and the country's famous chant of “one two three, viva l'Algerie”.
“It's a victory for Algeria,” her father Omar Khelif told reporters as he watched the fight on a giant screen along with the rest of the village about 300 kilometers (185 miles) southwest of Algiers.
Villagers shot into the air in honor of 25-year-old Khelif's first Olympic medal after defeating China's Yang Liu in the women's 66kg final.
The jubilation also spread to the capital, Algiers, where crowds poured into the city center and celebrated the victory with fireworks and a chorus of horns.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune joined the celebrations on social network X, saying: “We are all proud of you Olympic champion Imane, your victory today is Algeria's victory and your gold is Algerian gold.”
Ahead of Khelif's fight, hundreds of volunteers turned up at Biban Mesbah to help prepare for the big night.
Despite scorching temperatures of 46 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit), the men carried out a massive cleaning operation while dozens of women were busy cooking a giant couscous.
“We agreed to give the village a new face and breathe new life into it with the victory of Imane Khelif,” her cousin Mounir Khelif, 36, told AFP.
“We all helped each other, some brought couscous, others oil and vegetables, while those who couldn't help with supplies helped with the preparation,” said Amina Saadi, 52, a mother of six.
“We are all united behind Imane Khelif, who honored Algeria, this is the least we can offer her,” she said.
The boxer has been the victim of a hate campaign on social media that portrays her as a “man fighting women”.
“I am a strong woman with special powers. I sent a message from the ring to those who were against me,” she said on Friday after her win.
A gender controversy erupted in the French capital when Khelif knocked out Angela Carini in 46 seconds in their opening bout, the Italian breaking down in tears and leaving the fight after suffering a badly injured nose.
Algerians from all walks of life have shown their solidarity with Khelif, outraged that her father was forced to show her birth certificate to journalists to prove she was born a girl.
Khelif's international career took off with her participation in the Covid-postponed 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where she finished fifth in her weight class.
In 2023, she made it to the semi-finals of the World Championships in Delhi.
But she was then disqualified after gender fitness testing by the International Boxing Association, which is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee and does not operate the sport in Paris.
Coming from a family of limited means, she spoke before the Games about the difficulty of her life in a “village of conservative people” in a semi-desert environment.
Imane said her father found it hard to accept her boxing at first.
“I came from a conservative family. Boxing is not a widely practiced sport for women, especially in Algeria,” she told Canal Algerie a month before the Games, smiling readily and her voice soft.
In an interview with UNICEF, she said she sold scrap metal and her mother sold homemade couscous to pay for bus tickets to a nearby town.
