BOXING Imane Khelif blasted her critics in an explosive interview after securing a place in the women’s under-66kg semi-final.
The Algerian inadvertently found herself embroiled in a heated gender dispute that dominated the Paris 2024 Games.
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Khelif’s participation in the games It comes 18 months after she allegedly failed a gender test in March 2023 and was disqualified from the Women’s World Championship.
Tests conducted by the Russian-backed International Boxing Association are said to have determined that the 25-year-old tested male XY chromosomes and higher testosterone levels.
Several erroneous reports, especially about social mediastated that Khelif – who was born and raised as a woman – was a biological man.
Khelif received a wave of hatred after forcing ItalyAngela Carini withdrew just 46 seconds into the opening fight and issued a defiant message to her critics.
She said: “I send a message to all the people of the world to defend the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects.
“It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts and spirit and mind. It can divide people.
“And because of that, I ask you to refrain from bullying.”
Khelif’s loved ones were left fearing for his mental illness. health after seeing the massive amount of abuse he received online.
Full statement from the IOC and the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit
A look at the full statement issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit…
Everyone has the right to practice sport without discrimination.
All athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games boxing tournament comply with competition eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations established by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, athletes’ gender and age are based on passport.
These rules also applied during the qualification period, including the boxing tournaments of the 2023 European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games and Pacific Games, the 2023 ad hoc African qualification tournament in Dakar (SEN) and two world qualifying tournaments held in Busto Arsizio. (ITA) and Bangkok (THA) in 2024, which involved a total of 1,471 different boxers from 172 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the Boxing Refugee Team and Individual Neutral Athletes, and featured over 2,000 qualifying fights.
The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules as a basis for developing its regulations for Paris 2024. This was to minimize the impact on athletes’ preparation and ensure consistency between Olympic Games. These Tokyo 2020 rules were based on the post-Rio 2016 rules, which were in place before the IOC’s suspension of the International Boxing Federation in 2019 and subsequent withdrawal of its recognition in 2023.
We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The two athletes have competed for many years in international boxing competitions in the women’s category, including the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
These two athletes were victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championship in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.
According to the IBA minutes available on its website, this decision was initially taken exclusively by the IBA General Secretary and CEO. The IBA Council only ratified it later and only subsequently requested that a procedure to be followed in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA must “establish a clear procedure on gender testing”.
The current attack on these two athletes is entirely based on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes have been competing in high-level competitions for many years.
This approach is contrary to good governance.
Eligibility rules must not be changed during the ongoing competition, and any changes to rules must follow appropriate processes and be based on scientific evidence.
The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games, in accordance with the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework for Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the abuse the two athletes currently receive.
The IBA’s recognition was withdrawn by the IOC in 2023, following its suspension in 2019. The withdrawal of recognition was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). See the IOC statement following the decision.
The IOC has made it clear that it needs the National Boxing Federations to reach a consensus around a new International Federation for boxing to be included in the sports program of the LA28 Olympic Games.
She said: “I am in contact with my family two days a week. I hope they weren’t deeply affected.
“They are worried about me. God willing, this crisis will culminate in a gold medal, and that would be the best response.”
Khelif, however, managed to block out the noise surrounding his participation in the games.
She said: “Honestly, I don’t follow social media.
“There is a mental health team that doesn’t let us follow social media, especially during the Olympic Games, whether it’s me or other athletes.
“I’m here to compete and get a good result.”
Khelif broke down in tears after booking his place in Tuesday’s semi-finals with a points victory HungaryAnna Luca Hamori last weekend and defiantly said, “I am a woman.”
Reflecting on his outpouring of emotion, Khelif admitted: “I couldn’t control my nerves.
“’Because after the media frenzy and after the victory, there was a mixture of joy and at the same time I was very emotional.
“Because, honestly, it wasn’t easy to get through. It was something that hurts human dignity.”
Khelif will be back in action on Tuesday and will compete for gold on Friday if he beats Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng.
“I came here for a medal and to compete for a medal,” she said. “I will certainly be competing to improve [and] be better, and God willing, I will improve, like any other athlete.”
Gender controversy at the Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) provoked a huge controversy by releasing two women to boxing who had already failed a gender test.
Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan were disqualified at the Women’s World Championships in New Delhi, India in March 2023.
Lin Yu-ting was stripped of the bronze medal after failing a gender eligibility test.
Khelif was disqualified in New Delhi for failing a testosterone level test.
Authorities discovered that tests showed they had “XY chromosomes” – which indicates a person is biologically male.
Rare ‘intersex’ medical conditions, medically known as differences in sexual development (DDS), can also mean that apparently female individuals can have ‘male’ chromosomes, or vice versa.
The Russian-led International Boxing Association organized this event, but it is no longer recognized by the IOC.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “These athletes have competed many times over many years, they didn’t arrive suddenly – they competed in Tokyo.
“The federation needs to define the rules to ensure that there is fairness, but at the same time there is the ability for everyone who wants to participate. That’s a difficult balance.
“Ultimately, the experts in each sport are the people working on it. If there is a big advantage, that’s clearly not acceptable, but that needs to be a decision made at that level.”
Both Khelif and Lin competed at the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Lin is a two-time winner of the Asian Women’s Amateur Boxing Championship.
The IOC said all boxers in Paris “comply with competition eligibility and entry regulations.”
The controversy follows the famous case of Caster Semenya.
South African middle-distance runner Semenya has a condition that causes her body to naturally produce higher levels of testosterone than is normal for women.
She won gold in the 800m in London 2012 and Rio in 2016, but was unable to compete in Tokyo in 2021 after World Athletics introduced new rules independently of the IOC at the time.
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