Imane Khelif beats Yang Liu in Paris Olympics boxing final – as it happened

Thanks for joining us for a thrilling evening of Olympic boxing!

This blog is now closed, but there’s a lot more action to come in boxing and other sports. You can follow all of Al Jazeera’s coverage here.

For now, it’s a goodbye from me, Patrick Keddie, and Andrew Semple on behalf of Al Jazeera Sport.

Khelif expressed her joy after defying a major gender controversy to win gold in front of a pulsating Roland-Garros crowd that roared her to victory.

Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who, together with Khelif, was disqualified from last year’s world championships after failing gender eligibility testing, fights in the women’s 57kg final on Saturday.

“I’m very happy. For eight years this has been my dream and I’m now the Olympic champion and gold medallist,” said Khelif, 25. “I’ve worked for eight years, no sleep, eight years tired. Now I’m Olympic champion.”

There were large numbers of Algerian fans at the 15,000-seat Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“I want to thank all the people who have come to support me,” Khelif said.

“All the people from Algeria and all the people at my base. I want to thank all the team, my coach. Thank you so much.”

That was the last fight this evening, but there’s more boxing to come on Saturday. We will have the build-up and live text commentary of all the fights:

• Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan faces Julia Szeremeta of Poland (women’s 57kg) – starts at 19:30 GMT
• Abdumalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan faces Munarbek Seyitbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan (men’s 57kg) – starts at 19:57 GMT
• Li Qian of China faces Atheyna Bibeichi Bylon of Panama (women’s 75kg) – starts at 20:34 GMT
• Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan faces Ayoub Ghadfa Drissi El Aissaoui of Spain (men’s 92+kg) – starts at 20:51 GMT

There is still a huge crowd in the stands at Roland Garros to see the women’s welterweight medals handed out, including Khelif’s gold.

Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand and Taiwan’s Chen Nien-chin are presented with bronze, then Yang Liu is given her silver.

A huge roar goes up from the crowd as Khelif receives her gold. She grins broadly as the Algerian anthem is played.

The Olympic Games never fail to concoct incredible stories, and this will be remembered as one of them: Can't recall an athlete having to overcome such extracurricular obstacles to the extent that Imane Khelif has on her way to winning gold in women's welterweight boxing pic.twitter.com/CMPnvicRzO

— Maher Mezahi (@MezahiMaher) August 9, 2024

Algerian 🇩🇿 Imane Khelif is a Paris 2024 Olympic GOLD 🥇 medalist – her nation’s first ever medal in women’s boxing. 🥊

From Tiaret – a small rural village in western Algeria, Imane sold scrap metal and her mother’s couscous to raise money to access the nearest gym. Mabrouk. 🤗 pic.twitter.com/wFEz0kzMa9

— Usher Komugisha (@UsherKomugisha) August 9, 2024

🇩🇿🥇 IMANE KHELIF GOLD MEDAL !

Algerian women continue to make us proud #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/xYe4eMGHWI

— Algeria FC (@Algeria_FC) August 9, 2024

Khelif never looked like losing tonight – she also won the last round on every judge’s scorecard.

You can see how much it means to her to be crowned woman’s welterweight champion, as she pumps her fists and roars at the crowd before leaving the arena.

It’s a unanimous decision – Imane Khelif has become the first African, Algerian and Arab woman to win an Olympic boxing gold.

It’s been one of the stories of the tournament, Khelif has endured torrents of abuse, and now she is doing a gleeful victory jig in the ring.

Her team are ecstatic – one team member puts her on his shoulders and she waves an Algerian flag to the crowd.

Yang has it all to do now and she looks disappointed by the judges scoring in the last round.

Khelif knows a knockout is unlikely as the Chinese fighter doesn’t have huge power, and the Algerian beckons her on.

Khelif lands with a great right hand and follows it up with a left hook. Yang is having to look for an opening and she catches Khelif with a big left as she presses forward.

The Algerian has her hands down at her hips, wanting Yang to attack. She shakes her head as Yang misses some shots.

The bell goes and Khelif is delighted, while Yang looks resigned to defeat.

Khelif was just too good for her.

Khelif comes forward, starting the round aggressively. She looks more willing to let her hands go after that good first round.

The Algerian stabs a shot to the body then looks for a right hand up top. She doesn’t look too troubled by the Chinese southpaw.

But Yang is still in the fight, she feints well, slips some shots and fires back with her own. Khelif is warned by the referee for holding and hitting, as some people in the crowd seem to be ululating.

Yang grew into that round and landed some good counters as Khelif became more aggressive.

Khelif landed some powerful straight right hands though, and again, all five judges give the round to Khelif.

There is fervent support in the crowd for the Algerian as the bell goes.

Both fighters are the same height, they both stake an early claim to the middle of the ring.

Yang bursts into life, throwing a combination but Khelif easily evades them.

The Chinese woman then lands some straight punches, pushing Khelif back. Yang is trying to be the aggressor here.

The crowd urges Khelif to let her hands go, and she fires off a few leading crosses, following up with a jab.

Khelif finds Yang with a big right hand – it’s a massive warning for the Chinese fighter.

Yang gets back on the front foot and circles, looking for an opening but the bell goes before she can land any more meaningful punches.

All five judges give the round to Khelif.

Khelif, all in red, comes into the arena to screams of support.

Yang, wearing all blue, comes out to a less friendly welcome and a smattering of boos.

It’s almost time for Algeria’s Imane Khelif to fight China’s Yang Liu for gold in the women’s welterweight (66kg) category.

No controversy here, as the Uzbek man’s hand is raised. He wasn’t tested at all – perhaps Alfonso felt Mullojonov’s power early on and became hyper-cautious.

A couple of judges gave the last round to the Azeri, but other than that it was a totally dominant win for Mullojonov.

Alfonso has to come out and fight, but he still goes long periods in range without firing a meaningful shot.

Both men taking most of the shots on their gloves, Mullojonov gives a little shake of the head as Alfonso fails to penetrate his guard.

With a minute left to go, Alfonso is still not fighting aggressively, just trying to inch towards Mullojonov with a high guard.

The Averi gets himself into a good position with some nifty footwork but doesn’t pull the trigger.

The bell goes and Mullojonov almost looks embarrassed – he shows no signs of elation at all, even though he’s almost certainly won.

Some great slapping sounds as Mullojonov lands a heavy shot and then Alfonso fires back with a combination.

Mullojonov is still backing up his opponent and smashes a series of punches into Alfonso’s gloves.

Both men are a little wary of each other’s power, Alfonso is still fighting at half speed, looking so relaxed and waiting for a mistake.

Alfonso did catch Mullojonov with a great left hook in that round.

But Mullojonov lifts his hands in the air at the end of the round as Alfonso looks a bit baffled.

Again, all the judges give the round to Mullojonov.

And the second half of this evening’s bouts begins.

Mullojonov immediately takes the middle of the ring but it’s a hesitant start to the fight by both men.

The Uzbek darts in and throws a quick flurry, but Alfonso hits back with his own combination and raises his hand in glee.

But the southpaw Mullojonov quickly backs the orthodox fighter into the corner and catches him with a powerful cross.

Alfonso stalks along the ropes with his hands down, hoping to lure Mullojonov in. The Azeri has lightning-fast hands for such a big man, but he’s not throwing much – he’s been a bit passive so far, with the Uzbek more active and landing the more significant punches.

All five judges give the round to Mullojonov.

Lazizbek Mullojonov of Uzbekistan and Loren Alfonso of Azerbaijan via Cuba face off shortly for gold in the 92kg category.

Alfonso enters the arena all in red, and Roland Garros comes back to life after a short break.

Mullojonov, all in blue, follows shortly after.