Imane Khelif's emotional four-word response to Olympic criticism after securing medal in Paris

Imane Khelif emotionally proudly declared "I am a woman" immediately after securing her victory in the Olympics women's 66kg category over Luca Anna Hamori.

Following an intense period of debate and gender disputes, the Algerian athlete was visibly moved to tears, having only recently passed a controversial gender test. She will depart from Paris holding at least a bronze medal, thanks to her unanimous points win against her Hungarian rival.

The match preceding this one, where Khelif's previous adversary Angela Carini withdrew barely 46 seconds into their fight without offering a handshake, sparked a barrage of negative reactions. However, Khelif found relative calm in her quarter-final triumph. Overwhelmed with emotion, she wept as she rushed to celebrate the win alongside her team amidst an Olympian controversy.

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Continuing to shed tears on the canvas, Khelif exchanged a respectful glove touch with Hamori before being overcome by sobs, cheered on by a passionate Algerian crowd in France. As she navigated a sea of reporters eager for her comments on the bout and the criticism it sparked online, Khelif simply stated: "I am a woman."

Compounded by the weight of the moment, Khelif opened up again tearfully in a poignant conversation with Algerian television, marking a significant milestone for her nation as she advanced to the semi-finals to face off against Thailand's Janjaem Suwannapheng.

The International Boxing Association's gender test last year has sparked widespread debate after disqualifying the 25 year old Algerian boxer, along with Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, from the women's World Championships. However, controversy has taken a back seat as both have been given the green light for Olympic glory.

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Despite neither athlete identifying as transgender or intersex, their gender became an international talking point. Clarification came from official channels, with Khelif's father providing documents affirming her birth sex as female.

On the day of Khelif's crucial quarter-final bout, Thomas Bach, chief of the International Olympic Committee, fiercely defended both boxers at a press briefing. In no uncertain terms, Bach condemned the "hate speech" aimed at Khelif and Lin while reinforcing the integrity of women's boxing competitions.

Bach articulated his stand firmly: "Let's be very clear, we are talking about women's boxing," he pointed out. "We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman. This is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman."