Olympian Imane Khelif Says She Will Undergo Sex Testing to Return To Boxing
After a decade of sacrifice, discipline and perseverance, the Olympic gold medalist has no intention to give up the fight.
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Algerian Olympic champion Imane Khelif has said she is willing to undergo sex testing in order to return to boxing in advance of the 2028 Olympic Games. In September, she had skipped the World Championships after World Boxing introduced the requirement, which included plans to test for Y chromosome genetic material as a determinant of biological sex. The International Boxing Association (IBA) had previously disqualified both Khelif and Taiwanese gold medalist Lin Yu-ting from its 2023 World Championships, after asserting that they had failed sex eligibility tests.
After her gold win in the 2024 Paris Games against Italy’s Angela Carini, who withdrew from the fight after taking two punches from Khelif, the welterweight landed in conservative crosshairs and was accused of being biologically male. A brutal campaign of baseless lies and misinformation ensued. The champion vowed then to stand up to the challenge, and by all accounts, is living up to that promise.
“I’m not transgender. I’m a woman. I want to live my life,” the cisgender boxer told CNN in a Feb. 4 interview. “Please do not exploit me in your political agendas.”
Related: World Boxing To Require Sex Testing Before World Championships
The boxer also told French sports outlet L’Equipe that she had reduced her naturally high levels of testosterone under medical supervision, ahead of the 2024 games and qualifying tournament. “I have female hormones. And people don’t know this, but I have taken hormone treatments to lower my testosterone levels for competitions,” she told L’Equipe. Khelif confirmed she has the SRY gene, located on the Y chromosome. “We all have different genetics, different hormone levels,” she said, “My difference is natural. This is who I am. I haven’t done anything to change the way nature made me. That’s why I’m not afraid.”
“For the next Games, if I have to take a test, I will. I have no problem with that,” she told L’Equipe. “I’ve already taken this test. I contacted World Boxing, I sent them my medical records, my hormone tests, everything. But I haven’t had any response. I’m not hiding, I’m not refusing the tests.”
Related: Gold Medal Boxer Imane Khelif Is Unable To Compete Unless She Undergoes Genetic Sex Testing
True to her word as per last February, Khelif, 26, has no intention to back down after years of sacrifice, discipline and perseverance which ultimately took her to the Olympic stage. She has earned her place, and is living up to her word that she will continue to stand up in the face of challenge.
