The Paris Olympics were the first to achieve gender parity, but it was gender eligibility that took centre stage. All known cases of female athletes being ruled ineligible involved women from the global south, most from Africa. Competitors have repeatedly called the regulations racist and denigrating. Experts have called them unfair, unscientific, harmful, medically unethical, and racially biased.
Many African women achieved glory in Paris. Algerian Kaylia Nemour became the first African gymnast to win gold, and South African Tatjana Smith swam to gold and silver in the breaststroke. On the track, Ugandan Peruth Chemutai won the 3,000 m steeplechase, and Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet the 5,000 m and 10,000 m, with Faith Kipyegon becoming the first contestant to win three consecutive golds in the 1,500 m.
But none dominated headlines as much as Algerian Imane Khelif, who won gold in the 66 kg boxing. Her first-round opponent, Italian Angela Carini, withdrew after 46 seconds, saying: ‘I have never been hit so hard in my life.’
