Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer who previously failed a sex-identification test, won the Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing on Friday.
The boxer beat China’s Liu Yang in the 66-kilogram class at the Paris games, winning every round. An ecstatic Khelif smiled victoriously after the match, which came after a slew of athletes and activists disputed Khelif’s eligibility to compete in the women’s category.
Khelif, along with Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu Ting, was disqualified at a women’s competition last year because “it was proven they have XY chromosomes,” Umar Kremlev, the Russian president of the International Boxing Association, said after administering the test. Khelif, who tested as male, has not publicly identified as transgender and may instead have a genetic disorder that causes a person’s biological sex characteristics to develop abnormally.
The boxer has a testosterone advantage over other competitors, the IBA claimed. Khelif’s eligibility was again called into question at the Paris Olympics, after Italy’s Angela Carini withdrew from the pair’s bout earlier this week when Khelif threw a particularly brutal punch at her nose.
“I am heartbroken,” Carini said after the match, which lasted 46 seconds. “I went to the ring to honor my father. I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior, but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this.”
United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, said, “Angela Carini rightly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex.”
The International Olympic Committee defended Khelif and suggested that chromosomes do not determine biological sex.
“This is not a question of inclusion. . . . This is a question of justice,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “It is not as easy as some may, in this culture war, may now want to portray it, that the XX or the XY is the clear distinction between the men and women. This is scientifically not true anymore, and therefore these two are women and they have the right to participate in the women’s competition.”