Who is Imane Khelif?
FactSeeker confirms that Imane Khelif is not a transgender person.
by Anonymous |
August 7, 2024
In the past few days, a number of controversial gender-based stories about Algerian boxer Imane Khelif have been circulating on social media. It was in less than a minute at the 2024 Paris Olympics when her rival backed out from the competition. this created much confusion which led to many people assuming Khelif’s gender. Factseeker looked into this. 
Who is Imane Khelif?
Born in 1999, Khelif grew up in a rural village of Tieret in western Algeria and is currently working as a UNICEF ambassador. Imane once told the UN Children’s Agency that she took up boxing at the age of 16 due to the attacks of boys in the area. According to her UNICEF biography, she arranged the bus fare to go to the gym by selling couscous made by her mother.
What was Khelif’s boxing career like?
Khelif soon caught the attention of the Algerian Boxing Federation as she competed at the 2018 Women’s World Championships, where she found herself at 17th place after being taken down in the first round.
She represented Algeria at the Tokyo Olympics, where she was defeated by Ireland’s Kelly Harrington in the semi-finals. In 2022, Khelif finished second at the Women’s World Championships after losing to Ireland’s Amy Broadhurst. Also in 2023, hours before winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Delhi, Khelif was disqualified for failing to meet the International Boxing Association qualification.
Why is everyone talking about Imane Khelif’s gender?
On August 5, the International Boxing Association (IBA) accused Imane Khelif of failing the gender test. Like Khelif, Taiwan’s Lin Yu Ting has also failed to pass the test for gender at the World Boxing Championships. Former IBA medical committee chairman Ioannis Filippatos said blood tests in 2022 revealed abnormalities in both boxers. According to IBA officials, further investigations conducted in 2023 confirmed these findings, which led to their disqualification. Statement made by the IBA regarding Athletes Disqualifications in World Boxing Championships 2023 https://www.iba.sport/news/statement-made-by-the-international-boxing-association-regarding-athletes-disqualifications-in-world-boxing-championships-2023/)
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Imane’s opponent Angela Carini backed out after 46 seconds after playing, which suddenly created controversy about Imane’s gender, and it led to discrimination and false acusations towards the Algerian boxer on social media nationally and internationally.
Why is everyone saying Imane Khelif is a transgender person?
According to the IBA correspondence sent to the International Olympic Committee in June 2023, one test conducted in India last year and a pre-test conducted in Turkey in May 2022 “concluded that the boxer’s DNA was composed of XY chromosomes. It has also been cited that Khelif has a high level of testosterone in her body system.
DSD refers to changes in sexual growth. It can involve genes, hormones, and reproductive organs, but it has nothing to do with gender. The world’s largest gay, bisexual, transgender and discursive media advocacy organization, GLAAD, has said that it is wrong to confuse transgender people with those born with DSD. According to the NIH, some people with DSD grew up to be women but may have sexually transmitted bodies or high testosterone levels other than XX. According to the National Library of Medicine, people with Swire syndrome have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome in each cell, but they have female reproductive structures.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said many of the rules set by authorities for participation in women’s competitions include testing athletes’ testosterone levels, but that’s not a perfect test. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that there is no problem that both of them meet all the criteria. IOC President Thomas Bacchi states that there is never a doubt that Lin and Khelif Cisgender women, and that “of course these women should be respected, and they should be respected as women, as humans.”
Thus, FactSeeker confirms that Imane Khelif is not a transgender or male person, as published on social media nationally and internationally, and she is a Cisgender female. Further information on this is provided on foreign fact checking websites.
