Gender Row Boxer Imane Khelif Punches Back Against So-Called Bullies in First Interview Since Causing Female Athlete to Quit After 46 Seconds
Imane Khelif fired back at her critics this weekend.
Aug. 5 2024, Published 3:52 p.m. ET
Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has punched back at bullies and critics in her first interview since forcing opponent Angela Carini to throw in the towel after just 46 seconds last week.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Khelif, 25, discussed the bullying she and fellow fighter Lin Yu-ting have faced at the Paris Olympics in a rare sit-down interview on Sunday.
The Algerian welterweight said: “I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects."
“It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”
Khelif first faced backlash over unsubstantiated claims about her gender when the Paris Olympics kicked off on July 26.
The International Boxing Association had banned Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, 28, from the 2023 World Championships after the pair allegedly failed a gender eligibility test for the women’s competition.
Khelif, 25, faced unsubstantiated claims about her gender after winning a match in 46 seconds.
Despite the IBA’s decision to ban Khelif and Yu-ting last year, both fighters were cleared by the International Olympic Committee to compete in the women’s 66-kilogram and women’s 57-kilogram matches at the Paris Games.
Flash forward to Thursday, and several critics – including former President Donald Trump, 78, and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, 59 – denounced Khelif after she beat Italian boxer Angela Carini, 25, in just 46 seconds.
Trump and Rowling suggested Khelif was really a man or transgender – despite the facts Khelif has identified as a female since birth, is listed as a woman on her passport and has been competing in women’s boxing since she was 16 years old.
The former president wrote on Truth Social: “I will keep men out of women’s sports!”
Khelif being named the winner of an Olympic boxing match against Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori on Saturday.
Rowling added on X: “Watch this, then explain why you’re OK with a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment. This isn’t sport. From the bullying cheat in red all the way up to the organisers who allowed this to happen, this is men revelling in their power over women.”
Khelif went on to win another Olympic boxing match against Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori, 23, on Saturday. Hamori had also bullied Khelif over the gender allegations on social media ahead of the match.
During her interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, the 25-year-old Olympic boxer said of her bout against Hamori: “I couldn't control my nerves."
“Because after the media frenzy and after the victory, there was a mix of joy and at the same time, I was greatly affected, because honestly, it wasn't an easy thing to go through at all. It was something that harms human dignity.”
Khelif said: 'It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people.'
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Khelif also celebrated after the match against Hamori guaranteed her at least a bronze medal.
She said after beating her Hungarian opponent: “I want to tell the entire world that I am a female, and I will remain a female.”
IOC President Thomas Bach has also defended Khelif and Yu-ting amid the unsubstantiated claims about their genders.
Bach, 70, affirmed: “We have two boxers who were born as women, who have been raised as women, who have a passport as a woman, and who have competed for many years as women."
“What we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman. All this hate speech, aggression and abuse is totally unacceptable.”
Khelif is scheduled to fight Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng on Tuesday. A win in that match would put her in the gold medal match on Friday.
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