More information coming out on the controversial Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif, indicates that she may not be a cheat as widely believed.
Khelif might just have been a victim of a poorly understood medical condition called DSD (Differences of Sex Development), which gives a woman characteristics of a man.
Female boxer Imane Khelif has been trending since Thursday, August 1 when she fought with Italy’s Angela Carini, and sent her packing in 46 seconds at the ongoing Paris Olympics.
The incident has trended worldwide and brought up Khelif’s earlier disqualifications for failing a number of gender eligibility tests, including one at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi, India, last year.
The International Boxing Association (IBA) managed the process and disqualified her and another boxer, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, for having both the X and Y chromosomes.
Khelif’s bout with Carini on Thursday attracted attention from many world figures, including the tech billionaire, Elon Musk, author, JK Rowling, athlete Israel Adesanya, Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni and former President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, who all expressed their dissatisfaction with a system that promotes unequal pairing of boxers.
All the critics of Khelif, including Meloni and Trump, spoke from the understanding that Khelif was a biological male who transitioned to a female.
Information now coming out indicates that Khelif was female at birth and has lived and boxed all her life as a female. She competed at the Tokyo Olympics as a woman but did not win a medal.
She is said to be a sufferer of a condition called DSD – Differences of Sex Development, as a result of which she developed both X and Y chromosomes, just like a man. She also has higher levels of testosterone compared to female athletes.
This explains why Imane Khelif fails gender tests.
Irish female boxer, Amy Broadhurst, who defeated Khelif in 2022, said she did not think Khelif had done anything to cheat.
She said it was all about how she was born, which she has no control over.
“The fact that she has been beaten by nine females before says it all,” she added.
Khelif herself has, however, not helped the controversies surrounding her by keeping sealed lips.
She has refused to confirm if she is transgender or intersex (people born with sex characteristics that do not fit into the male-female gender binary).
Khelif’s next match is tomorrow (Saturday) when she faces Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori in the women’s 66-kilogram quarterfinals.
