Aussie boxer makes Olympics history as gender storm explodes with rival's post-fight move

Australian fighter Caitlin Parker has described her historic quarter-final win at the Paris Olympics as "mind-blowing" as a gender storm that has overshadowed the women's boxing took another ugly turn. Parker created history with a victory over Moroccan world champion Khadija Mardi that guarantees Australia a first ever Olympics medal in women's boxing.

Parker was the clear victor despite a 4-1 split decision triumph over Mardi in their 75kg division showdown. The victory for Parker means the Aussies are assured of two boxing medals at the same Olympics for the first time in 64 years, with both losing semi-finalists sharing the bronze medal.

"I have got every emotion going through me right now," an ecstatic Parker said after the quarter-final triumph. "History has already been made. I can't wait to call mum and dad and scream on the phone. It's mind-blowing."

Only six Aussies have won Olympic boxing medals, with Harry Garside's memorable bronze three years ago in Tokyo snapping a 33-year drought. Australia is still yet to claim boxing gold at an Olympic Games but has two live chances after Charlie Senior (57kg) also stormed into the semi-finals in a win Parker says inspired her before the fight against Morocco's world champion.

"Watching Charlie ... I was in absolute bloody tears, and then he came back to the Olympic village and we just cried together," she said. "It was just an incredible moment. That pumped me up so much and I felt that I had to bring everything and I did that. I will probably not sleep tonight, just smiling and looking at the roof."

Parker will take on China's Li Qian in Thursday's semi-final at Roland Garros, with a chance to fight in the gold medal match up for grabs. Her fight will take place just 30 minutes after Senior takes on Uzbekistan's Abdumalik Khalokov for a place in the final.

Three judges handed all three rounds to Australian boxing captain Parker, who set the tone with a fierce overhand right that connected in the first round. The Tokyo Olympian followed that up with a left hook and two left jabs in the second round to leave her taller opponent needing a final-round stoppage to steal the win. Mother-of-three Mardi gave it her all but Parker hung on to cement her spot in history and keep her Olympic dream alive.

Gender debate reignites in Paris after female boxer's gesture

Parker had earlier weighed in on the gender debate that has overshadowed women's boxing at the Paris Games and reared its ugly head again following Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting's victory over Svetlana Staneva, sparking an explosive gesture from the Bulgarian. Taiwan's Lin and Algerian Imane Khelif were both cleared to fight in Paris by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), despite being banned from competing at last years's world championships due to gender eligibility issues. Parker said earlier at the Games that neither fighter should be able to compete and labelled it "extremely dangerous".

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The International Boxing Association (IBA) has eligibility criteria that prevents athletes with male XY chromosomes such as Lin and Khelif from competing in women’s events but the IOC stripped the organisation of its accreditation and defended its decision to allow them to compete in Paris. Khelif's situation in particular has divided opinion, with hundreds of French-Algerian supporters showing up for her quarter-final triumph. Khelif has faced a wave of backlash despite being born a female and always identifying as female, despite also carrying the male chromosome.

Drama around the issue exploded again as Lin followed Khelif into the women's boxing semi-finals by beating Staneva 5-0 in their women's 57kg quarter-final to guarantee herself a medal. Following the bout, the Bulgarian pulled off her gloves, pointed to herself and made a double-tap X symbol with her fingers in an obvious reference to her female chromosomes. She initially refused to shake her opponent's hand and stormed off past reporters without answering any questions.

Staneva’s coach did speak out against the IOC's eligibility criteria after the bout though, following an easy win for the Taiwanese fighter. “I am not a medical person so I shouldn’t say if Lin should or should not compete,” Borislav Georgiev told the BBC. “But when the test shows that he or she has the Y chromosome she should not be here.”

Bulgaria's coach was also seen holding a piece of white paper with the words: “I only want to play with women I am XX” written on it. Georgiev confirmed to Bulgarian journalists that he wrote the note. “This is maybe the message from every single woman boxer in this tournament,” he told Bulgarian journalists.

with agencies