Imane Khelif will take home huge jackpot if she wins gold medal in Olympics boxing final tonight
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is set to bag herself some seriously insane winnings should she win gold in the women's welterweight bout.
Khelif is set to face Chinese boxer Yang Liu tonight (9 August) in the Olympic final after a widely publicised route to the final.
The Algerian's name made headlines last week after her fight with Italian Angela Carini ended after just 46 seconds, with the Italian leaving the ring in tears. The 25-year-old boxer has since faced backlash across social media after erroneous reports over her gender.
Carini has since apologised for her reaction and comments, however, Khelif continued to face an onslaught of abuse online, prompting her dad Omar Khelif to show her birth certificate on French TV to prove she was born a girl.
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"My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl. She's a strong girl. I raised her to be hard-working and brave," he added in an interview with Sky News.
Despite the backlash, Khelif has gone on to beat Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori and Thailand's Janjaem Suwannapheng to earn herself a spot in the final and a guaranteed medal.
How much money could Imane Khelif win?
Should Khelif triumph against Yang then she's set for a large payday. According to essentiallysports, a gold medalist boxer receives $100,000 (£78,515) prize money. Half of the prize money goes directly to the athlete, while the other half is split between the National Federation and for the coach.
Should Khelif lose the bout, then she'll receive a prize of $50,000 (£39,300), $25,000 of this will go to the athlete and the other half given to the coach and the National Federation combined.
A third placed boxer receives $25,000 (£19,600) total—$12,500 of which goes to the athlete.
The money is awarded by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which could make things complicated for Khelif.
Prior to the Olympics, Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu‑ting, had been disqualified from an IBA tournament in 2023 after failing unspecified gender eligibility tests. The IBA claimed that both Lin and Khelif have XY chromosomes, however, no test evidence has been released.
Lin has also reached the final in the women's featherweight division and will face-off against Poland's Julia Szeremeta on Saturday.
Khelif has since issued a defiant statement in response to the online backlash, telling reporters: "I don't care what anyone is saying about me with the controversy.
"All that is important to me is that I stay on the level and give my people the performance they deserve. I know I'm a talented person and this is a gift to all Algerians."
Khelif's uncle Rachid Jabeur has also spoken out in support of his niece, telling BBC Arabic: "Imane was born female and has lived as a female."
Topics: Imane Khelif, Olympics, Sport, World News, Money
Brenna Cooper