Gender controversy surrounding Olympic boxer Imane Khelif

VILLEPINTE, France: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has landed in the middle of a controversy about gender in sports after her Italian competitor, Angela Carini, pulled out seconds into their bout at the Paris Olympics.

Outcry has come from conservatives like former U.S. President Donald Trump and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni against the boxer Imane Khelif gender controversy and her competing in the Olympics.

Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing unspecified and untransparent eligibility tests for women’s competition from the now-banned International Boxing Association.

Some spectators watching the match later raised questions about Khelif’s participation, citing a 2023 decision by a now-discredited boxing regulator to bar her from a women’s tournament.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) however strongly supports her participation in the 2024 Games, with IOC spokesperson Mark Adams saying she was “born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport.”

“This is not a transgender case,” Adams added.

WHO IS IMANE KHELIF?

Born in 1999, Khelif is from rural northwestern Algeria. Her father initially didn’t approve of girls participating in boxing, but Khelif said she gave up soccer as a teenager to pursue her new passion, even though she had to travel 10 kilometers each way to the gym.

She was excluded from the World Championships in 2023 after a gender eligibility test revealed she had XY chromosomes, her career was surrounded by controversy. She has been given the all-clear to compete in the Olympics in Paris in 2024, despite this. 

DID IMAN KHELIF FAIL THE TESTOSTERONE TEST?

Shortly after the match, reports falsely surfaced saying that Khelif is a transgender woman, however, she is not and was assigned female at birth, according to the IOC.

According to International Boxing Association’s (IBA), Khelif did not undergo a testosterone examination, but was instead subject to “a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential.” 

The IBA does not state the nature of the test and why they were concerned. However, the IBA stated that Khelif and one other boxer from Taiwan, Lin Yu-ting, “were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.”

DOES IMANE KHELIF HAVE A CHILD

Imane Khelif does not appear to be the parent of any children. The search results that are now accessible mostly highlight her boxing career, including her accomplishments and any disputes pertaining to her eligibility for a particular gender. Although several publications discuss her early years and youth, none go into detail regarding her family life or having children. Since there are no verified rumors or pieces of evidence indicating that Khelif is a parent, it is still unknown if she is a parent.

IS IMANE KHELIF A BIOLOGICAL MALE FACT CHECK

Regarding her gender identification and biological sex, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has been the focus of much discussion and conjecture leading up to the Paris 2024 Olympics. Khelif, however, is a cisgender female who does not identify as transgender or intersex, according to a fact check. The 2023 Women’s World Championships saw Khelif eliminated because she failed a gender eligibility test that allegedly revealed high testosterone levels. She was accused of being a “biological male” competing in the female division as a result of this.

Nonetheless, Khelif has always recognized herself as a woman and has competed as one throughout her career. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has declared that Khelif is eligible to compete in the Olympics in Paris, highlighting the fact that she is a female citizen and has been competing as such. Athletes with variations in sex development (DSD) must keep their testosterone levels below 2.5 nmol/L for 24 months in order to compete in the female division, according to the IOC’s updated criteria. Although Khelif’s exact ailment is unknown, it is thought to be connected to DSD, a general term for a number of illnesses that cause aberrant chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex development. Some people with DSD were reared as girls and might have the male-typical XY chromosome. In conclusion, the information at hand points to Imane Khelif as a cisgender woman who has been given the all-clear by the IOC to represent her country in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The controversy surrounding her case brings to light the difficulties and complications associated with DSD athletes as well as the requirements for participation in sports that are gender-segregated.

IS IMANE KHELIF MARRIED

There is currently no information in the public domain showing that Imane Khelif is married. According to reports, she is most likely unmarried because no information about her marital status or husband has been made public. Khelif, a professional boxer from Algeria, has kept her personal life and romantic relationships private in order to concentrate on her sports career.

DOES KHELIF HAVE A XY CHROMOSOME?

The International Boxing Association (IBA) has confirmed that Imane Khelif possesses XY chromosomes, based on gender eligibility tests performed during the 2023 Women’s World Championships. Her disqualification from the competition resulted from these tests. Khelif has continuously identified as a woman and competed as one, but the precise test findings have not been made public. Khelif has been competing as a woman throughout her career, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has declared that she satisfies all eligibility requirements to compete in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.

IBA to award prize money to Carini despite loss to Khelif