Algerian boxer at the center of controversy makes four-word statement on gender after latest Olympic victory

After winning a medal in the women’s 66kg class, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who failed the gender test, gave a short message to the critics.

Khelif is fighting in the women’s category, nearly a year after the IBA reported that a gender test revealed the boxer had XY chromosomes.

Still, Khelif remains in the women’s competition, the boxer believes, and for one reason:

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Imane Khelif from Algeria before the match against Angela Carini from Italy. (REUTERS/Isabel Infantes)

“I am a woman.”

Khelif expressed that sentiment after beating Hungarian boxer Anna Luca Hamori. With that victory, Khelif reached the semi-finals, and since boxing doesn’t have semi-finals, Khelif is assured of a bronze medal at worst.

IOC President Thomas Bach earlier on Saturday defended Khelif and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan. Khelif and Lin were disqualified midway through last year’s world championships by the IBA, the former governing body of Olympic boxing, after they said they failed to meet the eligibility test.

Both organizations have participated in IBA events for years without any problems and the Russian-dominated organization, which has been in conflict with the IOC for years, refuses to provide information about the tests. This underlines the lack of transparency in almost all aspects of its activities, especially in recent years.

Algeria’s Imane Khelif before the match against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori during the Olympic Games in Paris on August 3, 2024. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Let’s be very clear here: We’re talking about women’s boxing,” Bach said Saturday. “We have two boxers who were born as women, who were raised as women, who have a passport as women, who have fought as women for years. And that is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt that they were women.”

The IOC calls the IBA’s tests “flawed.”

Khelif’s mother, Irene, said on Algerian television after the match that she was “proud of her daughter” and called the boxer “brave, despite racist and sexist attacks to break her.”

The controversy reached a new height when Khelif’s previous opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, gave up her match against Khelif after just 46 seconds.

Algeria’s Imane Khelif celebrates her victory over Hungary’s Anna Hamori Luca during the Olympic Games in Paris on August 3, 2024. (AP photo/John Locher)

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Khelif will fight for a shot at a gold medal against Thai boxer Janjaem Suwannapheng on Tuesday at 4:34 p.m. ET.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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