'I want to inspire': Algeria's woman boxer fighting prejudices

Algiers: Born in a poor village some 300 kilometres from Algiers,boxerImane Khelif had to overcome obstacles in a conservative country where women are...

Algiers: Born in a poor village some 300 kilometres from Algiers, boxer Imane Khelif had to overcome obstacles in a conservative country where women are considered unfit for the sport.

With braided hair and a powerful 1.79 metre (5 foot 9 inch) physique, the 25-year-old is the object of a Paris Olympic Games gender controversy.

With smiles and a soft voice, Imane told her story on television channel Canal Algerie one month before the start of the games.

"Our village was around 10 kilometres from the centre (of Tiaret, 280 kilometres southwest of Algiers). I moved from the village to the city. From the city to the capital. From the capital to abroad," she said.

From a family of limited means, she spoke of the difficulty of her life in "a village of conservative people" in Tiaret's semi-desert surroundings.