IMANE KHELIF will fight for Olympic gold after another dominant win in the ring.<br /><br />The Algerian, 25, blocked out the outside vitriol of the gender row to keep full focus on her task at hand.<br /><br />After calling for an end to the “bullying”, she mercilessly dispatched Janjaem Suwannapheng, 23, to reach Friday’s final.<br /><br />The IBA claims two blood tests allegedly showed Khelif has XY chromosomes and therefore failed to meet their gender eligibility, booting her out of last year’s World Championships.<br /><br />The IOC discredited the Russian-backed IBA and is happy with the female status on the passports of Khelif, and Lin Yu-ting, giving them the green light to compete at Paris 2024.<br /><br />And Khelif has taken full advantage, winning her first two bouts with ease before breezing past Thailand’s No5 seed Suwannapheng, celebrating with a finger wag and then a joyful jig inside the ropes.<br /><br />It was a new location under the roof of tennis’ Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros but Khelif received the same vociferous welcome with dozens of Algerian flags all around the impressive 15,000-seater arena.<br /><br />Chants of her name started between and even during the bouts earlier on the card and amplified to ear-splitting volumes for her ring walk, while Suwannapheng got a mix of boos and applause.<br /><br />In the opening round, towering Khelif had it all her way and got the favor of all five judges, even after putting her opponent in a headlock.<br /><br />The second was more of the same, again taking it 5-0, as every punch that landed from her blue gloves got met by a deafening cheer.<br /><br />Khelif tried to wrap it up in style and the referee stepped in to give Suwannapheng a count with 20 seconds to go.<br /><br />But although she survived to the final bell, Suwannapheng, Khelif, and all the fans knew the Algerian had won - and it was soon confirmed by unanimous decision.<br /><br />Afterwards, Khelif said: "She was very good but I trained for two weeks and watched videos of how she fights.<br /><br />"I am one step from gold. Thank you to all the people who have stood by me, especially the people of Algeria." <br /><br />The boxer added: "I don’t care what anyone is saying about me with the controversy. <br /><br />"All that is important to me is that I stay on the level and give my people the performance they deserve. <br /><br />"I know I’m a talented person and this is a gift to all Algerians."<br /><br />This famous stadium has seen its fair share of dominant wins from Rafael Nadal - but this was right up there.<br /><br />Another performance like that on Friday and Khelif will be an Olympic champion.
