How Imane Khelif now looks to settle her gender battle beyond the ring

It’s been nearly 10 days that Imane Khelif won Algeria’s first-ever boxing gold medal since 1996 in the boxing ring of the Paris Olympics. Now back in her home country to a heroic welcome and as an inspirational figure for girls willing to take up sport, Imane is bracing for a fight on a different turf.

Khelif’s attorney, Nabil Boudi, has filed a criminal lawsuit over alleged acts of ‘cyber harassment’ against some of the most influential figures in the world over what he feels are “misogynistic, racist and sexist” remarks about the boxer’s gender. While Elon Musk and J.K. Rowling have been named by Boudi, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s name could be the third one in their appeal.

What did Musk and Rowling say exactly? X owner Musk amplified a tweet from swimmer Riley Gaines that “men don't belong in women's sports”. Rowling falsely referred to Khelif as “a male who knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman (Angela Carini) he’s just punched in the head”. Trump, meanwhile, pledged to "keep men out of women’s sport" at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, referring to two boxers: Imane and Li Yu-ting of Taiwan.

Judy Murray, mother of tennis star Andy, also slammed the decision to allow Imane to compete, saying on X, “This should never have been allowed to happen. Bring back the swab test. Sport has to be fair and safe for biological women.”

British Olympic boxer Nicola Adams also weighed in, saying “people not born as biological women, that have been through male puberty, should not be able to compete in women’s sports…it’s dangerous!” 

This opens up another front for Khelif to prove her gender identity, but the courage of conviction — not to speak of the gold medal — looks to have fortified her stance. The 25-year-old had been allowed to compete as a woman without any controversy until last year, including being part of the fray in Tokyo 2020. The controversy kicked in at the beginning of August during the women’s round-of-16 boxing event in Paris, when her Italian opponent Carini conceded the fight after a strong punch, telling her coach "it was not right, it was not right".

In the aftermath of her bout with Carini, questions about Khelif’s gender began swirling online, and the 46-second incident has become one of the most controversial moments in Paris.

The dichotomy of the situation lay in the fact that neither the International Olympic Committee (IOC) nor the Paris 2024 boxing unit found any tangible issue that could stop Imane from qualifying, but the backdrop of her disqualification from the World Championship in New Delhi last year came back to haunt her.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified both her and Lin, a two-time world champion, for failing to meet the gender eligibility criteria in 2023. However, the IBA didn’t specify why the boxers failed their gender eligibility tests but did said neither underwent testosterone examinations, and it is thus far unclear what the gender tests consisted of. 

The IOC on its part said: "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 in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit."

This meant Imane could continue with her campaign in Paris. "I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman, I lived a woman, I competed as a woman, there’s no doubt about that. [The detractors] are enemies of success, that is what I call them. And that also gives my success a special taste because of these attacks," the Algerian said.

"My honour is intact now,” she said after winning the final. "But the attacks that I heard in social media were extremely bad and they are meaningless and they impact the dignity of people and I think that now people’s thinking has changed."

Point taken!