Paris Olympics: A second gold medal for the Arabs and Algerian Iman Khalif reaches the final 

Bahrain's Winfried Yafi, world champion, won gold in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the athletics competitions at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Yafi covered the race distance in a time of 8:52.76 minutes, breaking the Olympic record that had been held by Russian Gulnara Samitova-Galkina (8:58.81 minutes) since the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Yafi won the race in the final meters thanks to her final speed, ahead of the Tokyo champion three years ago. Uganda's Beruth Shimutai clocked 8:53.34 minutes, while the bronze went to Kenya's Faith Cherutich (8:55.15 minutes).

“I feel happy with my performance, the Olympic record and becoming the Olympic champion,” Yaffe said. “I feel happy.”

She added, "This is like a dream come true. It is special. It (the gold medal) means a lot to me and to the country as well."

She continued, "I executed the race plan I had. I am happy that the plan worked."

It is the third gold medal for Bahrain in the history of its participation in the Olympic Games and the second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase race after Ruth Jebbett in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, after Maryam Jamal opened the gold medal for the Gulf state in the Olympics in London 2012 when she won first place in the 1,500-meter race.

Yafi raised Bahrain's tally of medals at the Olympic Games to five, all for women, after two silvers from Gbakiroi Kirwa in the marathon race in Rio de Janeiro and Kalkidan Gezahegni in the 10,000m race in Tokyo.

It is also the second gold medal for Arabs in the Paris edition, after Algerian Kaylia Nammour was crowned champion of the two models of different heights in the gymnastics competitions.

Algerian Khalif reaches the 66 kg final

Algerian boxer Iman Khelif, who found herself in the midst of a storm of controversy over her sexual identity, continued her distinguished career at the 2024 Paris Olympics and reached the 66 kg final, defeating Thai Jangim Suwanaveng, seeded eighth, in the semi-finals on Tuesday.

Khalifa defeated the Thai woman by unanimous decision of the judges, 5-0, and secured at least a silver medal when she faced second-seeded Chinese Liu Yang in the final on Friday.

The Roland Garros stadium, which hosts tennis champions, has been transformed into an arena for boxing fights.

In front of full stands (15,000 spectators) decorated with Algerian flags and with the echo of voices shouting “Iman, Iman”, she defeated her Thai opponent and reached the final.

Khalif (25 years old) secured Algeria's first medal at the Paris Olympics, after defeating Hungarian Anna Lotsa Hamori on points on Saturday in the quarter-finals.

With the support of the International Olympic Committee, which is in sharp disagreement with the Olympic-banning International Boxing Federation, Algerian boxing is participating for the second time in the Olympic Games in Paris.

Her fight on Thursday in the round of 16 with her Italian opponent, Angela Carini, which lasted only 46 seconds due to the latter’s withdrawal, sparked a sharp dispute over her exclusion with Taiwanese boxer Yu-Ting Lin from the world championships last year in New Delhi, after they failed to meet the sexual eligibility criteria.

The International Federation had prevented Khalifa from competing in the final of the World Championship in New Delhi last year due to not meeting the eligibility criteria for gender and “testosterone levels,” according to the games website dedicated to athletes approved in the Olympics, before it later removed the reason for the exclusion, while the International Olympic Committee allowed her to participate. .

(AFP)