Imane Khelif Takes On Angela Carini At Paris 2024 Olympics in the first round match of the women’s boxing tournament in the 66 kg category. In the run-up to the challenge on August 1, the 25-year-old Algerian athlete has been in the spotlight: her exclusion from the last World Championships due to a high level of testosterone has sparked debate. According to the IOC, Khelif has all the requirements to participate in the women’s competition at the Games. She is not trans, as she has been erroneously defined. Khelif, based on the information available, is an intersex person.
The definition – as the Istituto Superiore di Sanità recalls – “includes all innate variations (i.e. present from birth) in the characteristics of sex”. Such variations “may concern the sex chromosomes, sex hormones, external genitalia or internal components of the reproductive system”. Khelif has always been socialized as a woman and her entire competitive career has developed in women’s competitions.
Khelif’s name came under the spotlight during the World Championships in March 2023: the Algerian athlete was disqualified from the competition organized by the International Boxing Association – which is not recognized by the IOC – because the tests would have revealed an excessive level of testosterone and the presence of male chromosomes in the DNAThe disqualification, contested by the athlete, according to the IBA was triggered after a “meticulous review” and led to the exclusion of two competitors – including Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting – who allegedly had “competitive advantages” over their rivals.
In Paris, The IOC did not go into details and simply highlighted that all the athletes registered for the competitions met the requirements. Khelifi is at his second Olympics, after Tokyo 2020 where he did not reach the podium in the 60 kg category.
She discovered boxing a few years ago, after watching the 2016 Rio Olympics on TV. Her pursuit began in the village of Tairet. Against the will of her family, who did not support her at first. Ten kilometers every day to get to the gym, she sold metal collected in the garbage to pay for the bus and training. Result: debut at the 2018 World Championships, which she finished in 17th place. Her growth was gradual, in 2021 and 2022 she was awarded as the best Algerian athlete, now she is also a UNICEF ambassador. “I started with nothing, now I have everything – she said in an interview with UNICEF -. And now both my parents support me, they are my biggest fans”. The message she wants to send from the ring in Paris is addressed to girls: “Don’t let obstacles stop you. I dream of the gold medal”.