Boxer Imane Khelif has announced a major career move just months after her Olympics gender row.
After weeks of intense scrutiny amid a gender controversy, Imane Khelif secured her first Olympic gold medal by defeating China’s Yang Liu in the women’s 66kg boxing final by unanimous decision back in August.
The 25-year-old Algerian celebrated her greatest career achievement at Roland Garros, surrounded by enthusiastic support from the Algerian diaspora.
This historic win made Khelif the first Algerian woman to win an Olympic boxing gold and the first Algerian boxer overall since 1996 to achieve this feat.
But now, Khelif has announced a major career change.
Reflecting on the controversy surrounding her participation in the 2024 Olympics, Khelif stated, per The Guardian: “As for whether I qualify or not, whether I am a woman or not, I have made many statements in the media. I am fully qualified to take part in this competition.
“I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman, I lived a woman, and I competed as a woman, there’s no doubt about that. [The detractors] are enemies of success, that is what I call them. And that also gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.”
She and Lin Yu-ting, who competed in the 57kg final, faced gender eligibility debates after being barred from the 2023 world championships due to failing a gender eligibility test by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
Prior to the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had revoked the IBA’s status as boxing’s official governing body due to concerns about corruption, governance, and financial transparency.
Khelif’s victory was met with overwhelming support, as the 15,000-strong crowd at Roland Garros cheered for her, chanting ‘Imane! Imane!’ after the earlier matches concluded.
“My honor is intact now,” Khelif declared, addressing the online criticism she faced. “The attacks that I heard in social media were extremely bad and they are meaningless and they impact the dignity of people and I think that now people’s thinking has changed.”
Khelif also expressed disappointment toward the IBA, with whom she had been boxing since 2018, saying: “They hate me and I don’t know why. I send them a single message: with this gold medal, my dignity, my honor is above everything else.”
In a hard-fought match between two evenly matched opponents with similar height and reach, Khelif’s confidence grew after securing the first round by unanimous decision.
Even as Yang pressed aggressively, Khelif maintained control, effectively countering Yang’s attempts to dominate. At the final bell, the two athletes embraced, and Khelif celebrated by leaping onto her coach’s shoulders to acknowledge the roaring crowd.
The celebration continued with the medal ceremony, where Khelif and her fellow medalists returned to the ring, the Algerian national anthem ringing out as supporters filled the arena with cheers.
After clinching an Olympic gold medal in Paris, however, Khelif is preparing to join the professional ranks.
Khelif faced scrutiny following her first win of the summer when her opponent Angela Carini withdrew within 46 seconds after receiving just one punch.
Amidst these challenges, Khelif remained resilient, ultimately claiming gold and announcing her intentions to transition to professional boxing.
And at a press conference on October 20, Khelif also shared that a documentary on her life and career is in development.
“I will soon enter the world of professional boxing,” Khelif said, as reported by The Independent.
“I have many offers. Currently, I have not decided where I will enter professional boxing. But very soon, I will take this step. We, as Algerians, would like to see our level in the field of professionalism.”
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Written by Annie Walton Doyle
Lisa Marie Presley’s Astonishing Confession About Ex Michael Jackson
Aimee Walker
In her explosive memoir, Lisa Marie Presley made a shocking admission about her ex-husband, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
Presley was the only child of singer Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley. Like her famous father, she had success in music.
She released three studio albums during her career and became known for tracks such as ‘Idiot’ and ‘Lights Out.’
Tragically, Presley died of a bowel obstruction in 2023 aged 54.
The singer’s posthumous memoir, ‘From Here to the Great Unknown,’ spoke of her star-studded life and whirlwind romances, including her brief marriage to Jackson.
Presley, who married four times, met the ‘Thriller’ singer long before they pursued a romantic relationship.
She first saw him at age seven, when he performed with The Jackson 5.
Although Presley was a decade younger than Jackson, she reportedly became fond of the blossoming pop star.
It wouldn’t be until two decades later that they realized they had a genuine connection.
While they vaguely knew each other through mixing with other celebrities, Presley and Jackson truly hit it off at a mutual friend’s dinner party. Before long, they shared intimate conversations over the telephone.
At the time, Presley was experiencing troubles in her marriage to Danny Keough, with whom she shared two children: Riley and Benjamin.
Despite Presley being married, Jackson reportedly said to her: “If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?”
To which she is said to have immediately replied: “I would do it.”
Presley ended up tying the knot to Jackson during a secret Caribbean getaway in 1994, shortly after divorcing Keough.
Presley and Jackson, both with intense showbiz lifestyles, found that their relationship frequently hit the headlines and in 1995, they went their separate ways.
Although the pair had a deep connection, there were obstacles in their marriage.
Presley filed for divorce from Jackson in 1996 and cited ‘irreconcilable difference’ as the reason, with her publicist stating: “Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley have mutually agreed to go their separate ways. However, they remain good friends.”
Following Jackson’s death in 2009, Presley shared a lengthy statement on her website in which she revealed she ‘worked so hard’ to be detached from her ex-husband.
She penned: “The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the L.A. County Coroner’s office for his autopsy. All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted.
“After the divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret.
“Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation. At some point, I truly became indifferent, until now.”
This wouldn’t be the only time Presley reflected on her relationship with Jackson.
In her memoir, Presley made a shocking admission about her intimate life with Jackson – but this wasn’t before she and the King of Pop were forced to address one particular rumor.
People had speculated the pair weren’t s**ually active so during a sit-down interview with Dianne Sawyer, the pair enthusiastically insisted they were.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” they exclaimed, followed by an announcement of their plans to have children together.
Years later, in her posthumous memoir, Presley divulged further about her love life with her ex-husband.
In one extract, the singer claimed Jackson called her to ask whether she was leaving Keough, followed by the admission although he was 35, he was still a virgin.
Presley recalled (per People): “I think he had kissed Tatum O’Neal and he’d had a thing with Brooke Shields, which hadn’t been physical apart from a kiss. He said Madonna had tried to hook up with him once, too, but nothing happened.”
She added: “I was terrified because I didn’t want to make the wrong move.”