Following Khelif's victory over Italy's Angela Carini during the 2024 Olympic Games, rumours surfaced on social media about her gender. These were fuelled by Khelif's disqualification from the 2023 Women's World Boxing Championships organised by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA) after failing unspecified gender eligibility tests.[4][5] This disqualification happened three days after Khelif defeated a previously unbeaten Russian prospect, thus restoring the Russian boxer's undefeated record.[6] The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its Paris Boxing Unit stated Khelif was eligible to compete in the Olympics, and criticized the IBA's previous disqualification as "sudden and arbitrary" and taken "without any due process".[7] There is no evidence that Khelif has XY chromosomes or elevated levels of testosterone.[8] Khelif was born female and identifies as female.[9]
Early life
Khelif grew up in Sougueur, Tiaret Province, in northwestern Algeria.[10][11] In an interview with Reuters, her father stated, "Imane is a little girl that has loved sport since she was six-years-old."[12] She originally played football before switching to boxing. In her early years, she had to commute to a neighboring village to attend training sessions, and sold scrap metal to afford the bus fare.[13] She stated that her father initially did not allow her to participate in the sport because "he did not approve of boxing for girls".[14]
In March 2021, she won a gold medal at the Istanbul Bosphorus International Boxing Tournament, defeating Anastasia Belyakova in the final of the women's lightweight event.[17][18]
2022: IBA Championships final and boxing successes
In February 2022, Khelif won a gold medal at the Strandja Memorial Tournament after defeating Nataliya Sychugova in the final of the women's 63 kg event.[22][23]
Khelif receiving her gold medal after defeating Morocco's Oumaïma Belahbib in the women's welterweight final of the 2023 Arab Games
In March 2023, Khelif competed for the gold medal in the finals at the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships; however, she was disqualified shortly before her gold medal bout against Chinese boxer Yang Liu. The disqualification came amid a International Boxing Association's (IBA) claim that Khelif had failed unspecified eligibility tests.[30] This disqualification happened three days after Khelif defeated Azalia Amineva, a previously unbeaten Russian prospect.[6][30] The disqualification restored the Russian boxer's undefeated record.[6][30] According to the Algerian Olympic Committee, Khelif was disqualified due to medical reasons; later reports indicated her testosterone levels were too high to compete.[31][32] Uzbekistani boxer Navbakhor Khamidova was awarded the bronze medal over Khelif.[33]
In 2023, IBA president Umar Kremlev said that the disqualifications were because DNA tests "proved they had XY chromosomes".[34][8]The Washington Post stated, "It remains unclear what standards Khelif and Lin Yu Ting failed [in 2023] to lead to the disqualifications",[8][34] further writing, "There never has been evidence that [...] Khelif [...] had XY chromosomes or elevated levels of testosterone."[8] The IBA did not reveal the testing methodology, stating the "specifics remain confidential".[35] At the time, Khelif said the ruling meant having "characteristics that mean I can't box with women", but said she was the victim of a "big conspiracy" regarding the disqualification.[36] She initially appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but later withdrew.[14]
On 31 July 2024, regarding their 2023 decision, the IBA stated that Khelif and others "did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential", and that they "were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors".[37] The following day, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) released their own statement in response, stating that the IBA's decision was "sudden and arbitrary" and "without any due process". They further stated the following:
According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should "establish a clear procedure on gender testing".[38]
In July 2023, four months after the IBA Championships disqualification, Khelif represented Algeria at the Arab Games, where she won a gold medal in the women's welterweight event.[39]
In November 2023, she announced that she was turning professional.[40] Her first professional fight took place in Singapore that month.[41]
In January 2024, Khelif became a UNICEF national ambassador.[13][14]
The IBA's Olympic status was revoked in June 2023,[42] due to governance issues and perceived judging and refereeing corruption.[35][43] As a result, the boxing events in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics were managed by the IOC's Paris 2024 Boxing Unit.[34] The IOC cleared Khelif to compete in Paris, confirming that she complied with all necessary eligibility and medical regulations for the event.[32][44] While the IOC does not test athletes for gender,[8] it stated that all athletes competing in Paris comply with the competition's eligibility and entry regulation, and that Khelif "was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport".[45][38]
Khelif and Carini in the boxing ring during her second round at the 2024 Summer OlympicsArabic-language interview with Khelif following her second round
As the fifth seed in the women's 66 kg event, Khelif received a bye into the second round.[49] In the second round, held on 1 August, she defeated Angela Carini of Italy 46 seconds after the match commenced, when Carini withdrew after receiving two blows, citing intense pain in her nose. Carini reportedly exclaimed "It's not fair!" after a particularly hard punch from Khelif. Because of this, Khelif received online backlash from those who questioned her gender.[50]
The Algerian Olympic Committee (COA) defended Khelif, describing the reaction towards Khelif as "unethical targeting" and "baseless propaganda". The COA stated that they have taken all necessary measures to protect Khelif and her right to compete in the Olympics.[14] The next day, Carini apologized to Khelif via the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, stating, "All this controversy makes me sad [...] I'm sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision."[51][52]
Khelif's father, in a statement to Sky Sports, stated, "My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl. She's a strong girl. I raised her to be hard-working and brave. She has a strong will to work and to train."[53] IOC President Thomas Bach defended the participation of Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, saying, "There was never any doubt about them being a woman."[54]
^Armelli, Paolo (1 August 2024). "The Shameful Controversy Over Olympic Boxer Imane Khelif". Wired. Archived from the original on 1 August 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024. Born in 1999 in Tiaret, Algeria, Khelif has been boxing since she was a child and has always competed in women's categories.
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