Iman Khalifa’s mother has denied claims that the Olympic gold medallist was not born a woman.
The Algerian won gold in the welterweight category at Paris 2024 earlier this month, although his participation at the Games was surrounded by controversy.
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Khalif — as well as featherweight Lin Yu-Ting — competed 13 months after allegedly failing gender eligibility tests conducted by the Russia-backed International Boxing Association.
After Italy’s Angela Carini retired after 46 seconds of her tournament opener, unproven claims that she was born male spread like wildfire on social media.
But her mother, Nasriya, challenged this, saying the daily mail“My child is a girl. She has been raised as a girl.
“Iman is a girl who has loved sports since she was six years old.
“I will always be with her. She has respected the national flag. She is our role model.”
The IBA disclosed that they Will not done End the debate about Khalifa’s Olympic participation and release the results of the alleged test she failed.
IBA general secretary Chris Roberts said: “We have never had any such intention.
“We have received letters from China and Algeria saying we cannot give any information about the boxers.
“You can understand what this means – once again, read between the lines.”
What’s remarkable is that Khalif hasn’t let the online noise surrounding her impact her performance in the ring.
But the abuse she suffered due to misinformation and bigotry caused silent harm.
She added: “And what can I say about this phase? It was not enough. It was a very difficult phase. I couldn’t wait to get through it. The scenario was very scary.”
“Thank God that all of Algeria and the Arab world knew the real Iman Khalif, with her femininity, courage and determination.
“Soon after my first win at the Olympics, there was a huge uproar from politicians around the world, big athletes from around the world and even artistes and global stars.
Olympic gender controversy
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sparked a major controversy by allowing two women to participate in boxing who had earlier failed gender tests.
Iman Khalif of Algeria and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan have been disqualified from the Women’s World Championships to be held in New Delhi, India in March 2023.
Lin Yu-ting was stripped of the bronze medal for failing the gender eligibility test.
Khalif was disqualified after failing a testosterone level test in New Delhi.
Officials found that tests showed he had ‘XY chromosomes’ – indicating the person is biologically male.
Horror incident as Anthony Joshua’s former opponent left with ear hanging off after suffering nasty injury in bare knuckle fightRare ‘intersex’ medical conditions, known medically as differences in sex development (DSDs), can also mean that outwardly female individuals can have ‘male’ chromosomes, or vice versa.
The Russia-led International Boxing Association organised that tournament but is no longer recognised by the IOC.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “These athletes have competed many times before over many years, they didn’t suddenly turn up – they competed in Tokyo.
“The federation needs to create rules to make sure there is fairness, but at the same time it needs to allow everyone who wants to take part to participate. It’s a difficult balance.”
“At the end of the day the experts in each sport are the people who work in it. If there is a huge advantage then it is clearly not acceptable, but that decision has to be taken at that level.”
Both Khalifa and Lin competed at the delayed Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Lin is a two-time winner at the Asian Women’s Amateur Boxing Championships.
The IOC said all boxers in Paris “will comply with the eligibility and entry rules of the competition”.
This controversy arose following the famous case of Caster Semenya.
Semenya, a South African middle-distance runner, has a condition that causes her body to produce higher levels of testosterone than women naturally do.
She won gold in the 800m at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics, but was unable to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics because World Athletics had then introduced new rules independently of the IOC.
“Honestly, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, it affected me a lot. It hurt me a lot. I can’t tell you how scared I was.
“I was afraid I would say to myself, ‘Why did Iman Khalifa insist on this? Why did there be such a furore around the world?’
“I was scared. But, thank God, I was able to get over this stage. Thanks to the psychiatrists who helped me get over this stage.”
Full statement from the IOC and Paris 2024 Boxing Unit
A look at the full statement released by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 boxing unit…
Every individual has the right to play sports without any discrimination.
All athletes participating in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 boxing tournament must comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry rules, as well as all applicable medical regulations set out by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As in previous Olympic boxing competitions, athletes’ gender and age are based on their passports.
These rules also apply during the qualification period, which includes the boxing tournaments at the 2023 European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games and Pacific Games, the 2023 ad hoc African qualifying tournament in Dakar (SEN) and the 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 included over 2,000 qualification bouts.
The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules as a baseline to create its rules for Paris 2024. This was aimed at minimising the impact on athletes’ preparations and guaranteeing continuity between Olympic Games. These Tokyo 2020 rules were based on the post-Rio 2016 rules that were in place before the IOC’s suspension of the International Federation of Boxing in 2019 and withdrawal of its recognition in 2023.
We have seen misleading information in reports about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Both athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions in the women’s category for several years, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
Both these athletes were victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. At 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 only by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only later confirmed it and only then requested that a procedure to be followed in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also state 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 due process – especially considering that these athletes had been participating in top-level competition for many years.
Such an approach is contrary to good governance.
Eligibility rules must not be changed during an ongoing competition, and any rule changes must follow fair procedures and be based on scientific evidence.
The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games in accordance with the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Conduct and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the mistreatment of two athletes currently being treated.
The IOC withdrew IBA’s recognition in 2023 after a suspension in 2019. The withdrawal was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). See the IOC’s statement following the decision.
Watch Mike Tyson, 58, punch Jake Paul ahead of boxing fight before the 27-year-old YouTuber pushes him awayThe IOC has made it clear that in order for boxing to be included in the sports programme of the LA28 Olympic Games it needs to build a consensus among the national boxing federations on a new international federation.
