Mira Potkonen clearly beat Imane Imane Khelif in the Hungarian tournament 2021. He believes that the fresh buzz in the ring will play into the Algerian’s bag.
Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
A boxer who ended his career for the Tokyo Olympics 2021 Mira Kick off has achieved two of Finland’s three previous Summer Olympic medals. While he was preparing for the Tokyo Games, an important intermediate stage was the high-class Bocskai Memorial tournament in Debrecen, Hungary.
After Potkonen had put himself in the final, he began to find out information about his opponent, the Algerian Imane From Khelif. The same boxer, who in recent days has become one of the most talked about athletes of the Olympic Games in Paris.
Khelif was banned from last year’s World Championships in New Delhi, despite having already qualified for the final. The International Boxing Association IBA considered that she did not meet the association’s eligibility requirements to fight in the women’s division. The IBA had commissioned Khelif and the Taiwanese athlete to take a gender test and invalidated their performances based on the results.
This did not mean that the athletes lost their Olympic qualification, because the International Olympic Committee IOC does not allow the IBA, which it considers corrupt, to organize the Olympic tournament, but has taken it into its own hands. Now in Paris, Khelif is one win away from a medal in the 66-kilogram category, and Taiwan’s 57-kilogram competitor Lin Yu-Tingkin started his career with a win.
Potkonen was confused by the appearance
Potkonen admits that he was confused by Khelif’s appearance during his time in Debrecen.
– I had seen tomboyish or downright manly female wrestlers before, but she was unusually bratty. I remember that sideburns also grew, Potkonen recalled on Friday.
In the ring, the Algerian didn’t have a single piece: Potkonen won by unanimous decision of the judges.
– I remember that yes, he tried to hit hard, and now I’m sure even harder, when he’s fighting in the 66-kilogram category and he’s gained more muscle mass. Then our series was 60 kilos. I had nothing to worry about, I clearly controlled the match.
In Tokyo, Khelif’s tournament ended in a stage, from which Potkonen continued for one more match, i.e. to the quarterfinals and in fifth place.
The prime minister roared
In Paris, Khelifi’s essence and the decision made in last year’s World Cup became the subject of huge attention, when the Italian Angela Carina stopped the match against the North African after only 46 seconds after a couple of hard blows. He left the ring without shaking hands with his opponent.
See the situation in the video below:
Prime Minister of Italy Georgia Melon commented that masculine women should not be allowed in women’s sports competitions in order to protect women’s sports.
Medically or genomically, the matter is not quite black and white.
Mira Potkonen is largely on the same lines as Meloni.
– I consider this (Khelif’s participation in the Paris tournament) very questionable, specifically from the point of view of protecting women’s sports.
Potkonen doesn’t think it’s impossible that there will be a stopper for Khelifi among those still continuing the Paris tournament in the 66-kilogram category, but he sees the commotion playing into the Algerian’s bag.
– Especially this match against the Italian can create some kind of image of him as invincible, in which case the opponents no longer dare to fight without prejudice. After all, I’ve beaten him too.
The two-time Olympic medalist also emphasizes that he has no personal antipathy towards Khelif.
The IOC, driven to a frenzy by the global Khelif news, issued a statement on Thursday evening stating that the Algerian and Taiwanese boxer meets all the medical criteria to participate as female athletes in the Olympic Games.
According to the IOC, the research conducted by the IBA on women was not even administratively valid.
– You don’t really know what to believe anymore. The hustle and bustle of the IBA was what it was during my own career. Hopefully this new association (World Boxing) will now have Olympic boxing completely under its umbrella and uniform and fair practices will be brought to the sport in all ways, says Potkonen.
The Finnish Boxing Association is a member of the new international umbrella organization.
In Paris, it has been said that he has hit the threshold of a medal Rowan Well–ditch a way to pass the media bar after a match without saying a word. Even Potkonen spoke publicly in Tokyo only after his last match.
– In most tournaments, the press is not present, so the value tournament is different in that sense, and we do not want to change the way we are used to. It’s about Pihlan and the coach The Moors Teuronen from a joint decision, as I did at one time. And yes, I believe that the media will manage even without those stops, Potkonen laughed.
Kaivo-oja will meet a Turk in the quarterfinals on Saturday Buse Naz Cakirogluwho is number one in the world rankings and a multiple prize winner.