Who is the 2024 Olympics boxer Imane Khelif?

Here are details about Imane Khelif who is currently representing Algeria in women's boxing at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Following shocking speculations surrounding the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif who is currently competing at the Olympics 2024 as regards her gender, here are facts about her and how she is eligible to compete at the Olympics.

Who is Imane Khelif?

Imane Khelif is a 25-year-old amateur boxer from Algeria, who was born on May 2, 1999. Imane first started off her career in sports as a footballer but then against the approval of her father who did not believe women should be boxing started competing as a boxer in 2018, representing Algeria in various international events, including the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and now the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Khelif has enjoyed significant success in her boxing career, securing victories in the African and Mediterranean Championships in 2022 and reaching the final of the World Championships in Istanbul that same year. However, her career has also been marred by controversy. In 2023, she was disqualified from the World Championships final due to elevated testosterone levels, sparking debates about gender eligibility in sports.

Despite these challenges, Khelif remains a determined competitor, recently securing a win in her opening bout in the women's 66kg category at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Is Imane Khelif a man?

The gender of Imane Khelif has been heavily debated because it was revealed in 2023 that she had failed the gender eligibility test due to her elevated testosterone levels. These speculations have been shut down on numerous occasions with childhood pictures of the boxer surfacing on social media which further emphasises that she was born a woman.

It was further revealed that Imane falls in the one percent category of people born with a rare condition called Disorders of Sex Development or Differences in Sex Development (DSD).

The Olympic Games committee have confirmed that as opposed to the reports circulating of Imane being transgender, she is allowed to compete in Paris as she had in Tokyo in 2020 because she is a woman on her passport and recognized as such in her country Algeria.

Imane as a man has also been debunked by the Algerian sports committee as the country is also known for its strict rules against gender altercations.

Does Imane Khelif have high testosterone levels?

It has been confirmed that Imane Khalif possesses the XY chromosomes and as such produces a higher testosterone level compared to the average woman.

Has Imane Khelif lost any boxing match?

Imane Khelif has lost to nine women in her career so far as a boxer in competitive bouts. She also did not win a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Amy Broadhurst who competed for Team GB in the Paris Olympics had previously faced and defeated Imane Khelif in the final of the 2022 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships jumped to the defence of the Alergian clarifying that she did not cheat in any way as she was just born with that condition and it is something she has no control over.

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