Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won a gold medal on Friday at the Olympic Games in Pariswho emerged victorious after a turbulent run at the Games, in which she was closely watched in the ring and insulted online from all over the world because of misconceptions about their femininity.

Khelif defeated China’s Yang Liu 5-0 in the women’s welterweight final and completed the best fight streak of her boxing career with a win at Roland Garros.

Cheering crowds embraced Khelif in Paris – draping themselves in Algerian flags and chanting her name – even as she faced extraordinary criticism from world leaders, major celebrities and others who questioned her eligibility or falsely claimed she was a man. This has pushed her into an even deeper divide, resulting from changing attitudes to gender identity and the rules in sport.

Khelif told SNTV, a sports video partner of The Associated Press, last weekend that the wave of hateful criticism she faced “violates human dignity” and she called for an end to the bullying of athletes. She also said a gold medal would be “the best response” to the backlash against her.

The starting point of the criticism is the decision of the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association (IBA) to disqualify Khelif and Li Yu-ting from Taiwan, who is also a two-time Olympian, from last year’s World Championships on the grounds that both had failed a questionable aptitude test for the women’s competition.

The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics last year after years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. The IOC has called the arbitrary gender tests the sport’s governing body imposed on the two boxers irreparably flawed.

The IOC has repeatedly affirmed the right of the two boxers to compete in Paris. President Thomas Bach personally defended Khelif and Lin and at the same time described the criticism as “hate speech”.

“We have two boxers who were born as women, who were raised as women, who have a women’s passport and who have competed as women for many years,” said Bach.

This did nothing to stop the international outcry over misunderstandings about the boxers, which were amplified by Russian disinformation networks. Nor did it stop two boxers who have performed at their best in the public spotlight.

Khelif’s gold medal is Algeria’s first in women’s boxing. She is only the country’s second gold medalist in boxing after Hocine Soltani (1996).

Hundreds of flag-clad, vociferous Khelif supporters crowded the pathways through Paris’s famous Roland Garros tennis complex and filled the stands, chanting, cheering and waving Algerian flags. Khelif has also become a hero in her North African country, where many fans see the world’s dismemberment of Khelif as a criticism of their country.

Khelif’s fight was dubbed the “night of destiny” in local newspapers. Projection screens were set up in public squares in Algiers and other cities to watch the fight. In the town of Tiaret, the region where Khelif is from, workers braved the scorching summer heat to paint a mural of Khelif on the gym where she learned to box.

“Imane has managed to turn the criticism and attacks on her femininity into fuel,” said Mustapha Bensaou of the Tiaret gym. “The slanders have given her a boost. … It’s a bit of a blessing in disguise.”

The gold medal bout caps Khelif’s nine-day run through an Olympic tournament that began with a bizarre incident. Khelif’s first opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, stopped the fight after just 46 seconds because she was in too much pain from Khelif’s punches.

A story already in progress suddenly became a top international topic. Figures such as former President Donald Trump and “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling spoke out with criticism and false speculation about men competing against women in sports. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni personally visited Carini to offer her condolences and express doubts about Khelif’s suitability.

Carini later said she regretted her actions and wanted to apologize to Khelif. Italian newspaper La Stampa described Carini’s attitude in the days leading up to the fight, describing pressure from both inside and outside her team to avoid the fight amid growing speculation about Khelif’s status.

Khelif has never performed as well at any other international tournament as she has at these Olympics. When she was portrayed last week as some kind of unstoppable punching machine by pundits and provocateurs who had never seen her fight before, opponents and teammates who know her were shocked by the characterization.

Then she lived up to her claim to be one of the best Olympic boxers in the world.

Boxing’s banned governing body did nothing to bolster its argument regarding its disqualification from last year’s world championships during a chaotic press conference. In the press conference, the leadership contradicted itself on the testing and refused to answer basic questions about it, citing privacy concerns from the Olympic committees of Algeria and Taiwan.

Lin will also fight for a gold medal on Saturday on the final card of the Olympics, facing Julia Szeremeta of Poland for a chance to win Taiwan’s first gold medal in boxing.