PUNCHING BACK: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, gave a four-word declaration after receiving backlash for competing in the women’s division despite failing gender tests saying, “I am a woman.”

After clinching a medal in the women’s 66kg division, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who has failed gender tests, gave a brief message to the naysayers.

Khelif is fighting in the women’s category nearly a year after the IBA said a gender test revealed the boxer had XY chromosomes.

However, Khelif remains in the women’s competition, the boxer feels, for one reason:

“I am a woman.”

Khelif made that sentiment after defeating Hungarian boxer Anna Luca Hamori. Khelif advanced to the semifinals with that victory, and since boxing doesn’t have semifinal matches, Khelif is guaranteed, at worst, a bronze medal.

IOC President Thomas Bach earlier Saturday defended Khelif and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan. Khelif and Lin were disqualified in the middle of last year’s world championships by the IBA, the former governing body of Olympic boxing, after what it claimed were failed eligibility tests.

Both had competed in IBA events for several years without problems, and the Russian-dominated body, which has faced years of clashes with the IOC, has refused to provide any information about the tests, underscoring its lack of transparency in nearly every aspect of its dealings, particularly in recent years.

“Let’s be very clear here: We are talking about women’s boxing,” Bach said Saturday. “We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised a woman, who have a passport as a woman, and who have competed for many years as women. And this is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman.”

The IOC has called the IBA’s testing “flawed.”

Khelif’s mother, Irene, said on Algerian television after the bout that she was “proud of [her] daughter” and called the boxer “courageous despite racist and sexist attacks to break her.”

The controversy reached new heights when a prior opponent of Khelif, Italian Angela Carini, forfeited her match against Khelif just 46 seconds into their bout.