Imane Khelif cruised to victory over Yang Liu in the women’s 66kg gold medal match.

Imane Khelif secured Olympic glory in the women’s 66kg gold medal match (Image: PA)

Imane Khelif secured Olympic glory with a comfortable points victory over Yang Liu of China in the women’s 66kg gold medal match. The Algerian fighter, who has been at the centre of a gender row throughout the Games, produced a dominant display to claim the spoils in emphatic fashion.

Khelif was roared into the ring by the hundreds of Algerian fans in attendance at Roland Garros, who were in fine voice throughout the contest. Her opponent was loudly booed, with just a handful of Chinese supporters waving their flags in a small corner of the arena.

It was a cagey start to the bout, with Khelif using her range to keep Yang quiet in the opening exchanges. Yang managed to find some gaps to land a few scoring punches, showing no sign of being overawed by the occasion, with Khelif biding her time behind her jab.

Khelif won every round on the judges’ scorecards in a dominant display (Image: PA)

A powerful right hand from Khelif rocked Yang in the final minute of the first round, prompting a huge cheer from the fans at ringside and in the stands. It saw her draw first blood on the scorecards with the judges suitably convinced that she had made the better start.

Khelif came flying out of her corner in the second round, landing another huge right hand before Yang hit back with a well-timed punch of her own. The Chinese boxer was in no mood to go down quietly and threw everything at Khelif in her efforts to swing proceedings in her favour.

The second round was much closer than the first with both fighters landing plenty of shots, but it was Khelif who took it on the scorecards to pull even further ahead. It left Yang needing to pull off a miracle in the final round but Khelif held firm to complete a clean sweep and claim the gold medal.

Both fighters shared a sporting embrace at the final bell, with Khelif celebrating with her coaches and Yang trudging back to her corner knowing she had not done enough. Khelif broke into a victory dance after the decision was read out as she revelled in her well-deserved Olympic triumph.