Gender row boxer Imane Khelif fights for Olympics gold in women’s welterweight final as she vows to defy critics
IMANE KHELIF is in action in the Paris 2024 women’s welterweight final at Roland Garros.
The Algerian, who has been at the centre of a gender row during the Paris Olympics, is taking on China’s Yang Liu.
Khelif, 25, is aiming to block out her critics to win gold for her country.
She has found herself at the centre of controversy since her first round win over Angela Carini.
The Italian, 25, quit after just 46 seconds following two big shots from Khelif.
She subsequently claimed she “feared for her life” while her coach called Khelif a “man” – although Carini did later apologise.
Khelif has found herself at the centre of a war between the International Boxing Association “IBA” and International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The Russian-led IBA was dropped by the IOC as boxing’s recognised world governing body last year.
Khelif, and fellow Paris 2024 boxer Lin Yu-ting, failed controversial gender tests administered by the IBA in 2023.
This led to both being disqualified from the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi.
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The IOC have since questioned the validity of the unsubstantiated tests – allowing both women to compete in Paris.
Following her win over Carini, Khelif defeated Luca Anna Hamori and Janjaem Suwannapheng.
Earlier this week, she called for bullying against her to stop.
She said: “I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold 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, spirit and mind. It can divide people.
“And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”
IOC and Paris 2024 Boxing Unit statement in full
A look at the full statement issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit...
Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.
All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their 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 ad hoc 2023 African qualifying 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 qualification bouts.
The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules as a baseline to develop its regulations for Paris 2024. This was to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparations and guarantee consistency between Olympic Games. These Tokyo 2020 rules were based on the post-Rio 2016 rules, which were in place before the suspension of the boxing International Federation by the IOC in 2019 and the subsequent withdrawal of its recognition in 2023.
We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.
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”.
The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.
Such an approach is contrary to good governance.
Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition, and any rule change must follow appropriate processes and should be based on scientific evidence.
The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games as per the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.
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’s statement following the ruling.
The IOC has made it clear that it needs National Boxing Federations to reach a consensus around a new International Federation in order for boxing to be included on the sports programme of the Olympic Games LA28.