This article originally appeared on WIRED Italia and has been translated from Italian.
Algerian boxer Imane Kherif won her opening bout at the 2024 Paris Olympics after her opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, withdrew after being hit several times in the face within the opening seconds of the bout. The victory has ignited a false controversy surrounding Kherif, who has been misgendered by critics throughout the Olympics.
Born in Tiaret, Algeria in 1999, Kherif has been boxing since she was a child and has always competed in the women’s category. In her career so far, she has competed at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi in 2018 (17th place) and competed in Russia the following year. She reached the quarterfinals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and finished second at the 2022 Women’s World Championships in Istanbul.
Everything seemed to be going well until the 2023 World Cup, organized by the International Boxing Association (IBA). The Russian-led IBA, which is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee, disqualified Kherif after a gender-eligibility test revealed that she has XY chromosomes. IBA president Umar Kremlyov said that both Kherif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, who reportedly had similar test results, “were trying to fool their colleagues by pretending to be women.” Kherif disputes the allegations.
Olympic Controversy
Both Khelif and Lin have been approved to take part in the Olympic boxing competition. The rules of participation in this case are in charge of the so-called Boxing Unit, which ensures that all athletes taking part in the Olympic boxing tournament comply with the eligibility and registration rules of the competition, as well as all medical regulations, including the proper presentation of a medical certificate that has been stamped and verified at least three months before the start of the competition.
“These boxers are fully qualified, they have passports, they are women, they’ve competed in the Tokyo Olympics, they’ve been competing for many years. I think we all have a responsibility to de-escalate this issue and not make it a witch hunt,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Still, notable figures on social media criticized Khelif’s participation in the Olympics. X owner Elon Musk amplified swimmer Riley Gaines’ tweet that “men don’t belong in women’s sports,” and author J.K. Rowling falsely called Khelif “a man who enjoys the pain of the women he hits over the head, knowing that he is protected by a sports establishment that discriminates against women.”
In fact, Kherif is taking part in the Olympics because the rules allow it and he meets the IOC’s standards. “The current attack on these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision,” the boxing unit and the IOC said in a statement on Thursday about the IBA’s bans. “It was done without due process, particularly given that these athletes have competed at the highest level for many years. This approach runs counter to good governance.”
The controversy of the past few days has taken serious issues such as hyperandrogyny (the excessive secretion of testosterone by the female body) and intersex (gender identity disorder), which are people born with sexual characteristics that do not fit neatly into traditional definitions of male and female, and exacerbated an already very delicate debate over the participation of transgender women in the Olympics and in sporting competitions in general.
But above all, the fact remains that Imane Kherif has always defined herself as a woman, that the IOC has allowed her to participate in the Olympic Games as a woman, and that she has nothing to add, even in the face of aggressive public opinion.
