Imane Khelif of Algeria, the boxer at the center of a controversy involving eligibility and fairness that has made the women’s boxing tournament at the Paris Olympics a cultural flashpoint, advanced to the semifinals in her weight class on Saturday.

The result guaranteed that Khelif, 25, will leave the Games with her first Olympic medal. But it also ensured that the furor over her participation will continue.

Khelif and another fighter, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, have come under intense scrutiny in recent days because they were barred from last year’s world championships, organized by the Russian-led International Boxing Association, after a ruling that questioned their eligibility to compete in a women’s event.

The International Olympic Committee, which is overseeing the boxing competition in Paris after it revoked the I.B.A.’s authority, called the decision “arbitrary.” In recent days, the I.O.C. has strongly supported the boxers by stating flatly and repeatedly that they are women and not transgender.

“We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman,” the I.O.C. president, Thomas Bach, told reporters on Saturday. “This is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman.”