2024 Olympics boxing: Who is Imane Khelif? How the Algerian boxer became a symbol of the gender debate

Women’s welterweight boxer Imane Khelif is on the verge of winning her first Olympic gold medal and bringing Algeria its seventh first-place prize in 60 years. Yet that story has taken a backseat to a hailstorm of ethical debates and misinformation.

Khelif defeated Italian boxer Angela Carini in her first-round matchup to advance to the women’s welterweight boxing quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Carini’s pained reaction to Khelif’s strikes and 46-second concession ignited fierce discourse surrounding the 25-year old. The conversations range from malicious or misinformed claims that Khelif is man to nuanced discussions about how genetics impact athletics. 

With her win in the semifinals on Tuesday, Khelif clinched a spot in the gold medal match on Friday. Here’s what you need to know about her ahead of that matchup with Yang Liu of China.

The plight of a woman

Khelif has always competed in women’s events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. There is no indication that she identified as anything other than a female since birth. Her father, Omar Khelif, defended his daughter by showing what he claimed was her birth certificate to French TV station BFMTV.

Algeria’s Olympic committee strongly condemned “the unethical targeting and maligning” of Khelif.

Algeria does not recognize the laws of LGBTQ+ persons. It’s unlikely the Algerian government would allow someone identifying as anything other than heterosexual and their assigned gender to represent the country on the world stage.

Gender controversies and qualifying criteria

Much of the discourse stems from Khelif’s ineligibility to compete under the International Boxing Association, a sanctioning body banned by the Olympics since 2019. The IBA disqualified Khelif and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-Ting after they administered an unspecified gender test. Subsequently, IBA president Umar Kremlev alleged the test revealed the presence of XY chromosomes. An IBA statement released on July 31 stated, “did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential.” 

During a press conference held by the IBA on Monday, the organization changed their explanation, now citing testosterone levels as a factor. “These testing [sic] show that they have a high level of testosterone,” Kremlev said. “Like men. They have men’s level of testosterone. We cannot go further in our investigation — whether they were born like men, or some changes intervened at the later stages.”

“Those tests are not legitimate tests,” International Olympics Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said in a press conference on Sunday. “The tests themselves, the process of the tests, the ad hoc nature of the tests are not legitimate.

“The testing, the method of the testing, the idea of the testing which happened kind of overnight. None of it is legitimate and this does not deserve any response.”

Khelif had competed at IBA-sanctioned events without issue before 2023. The IBA disqualified Khelif after she defeated Russian boxer Azalia Amineva in 2023, raising questions about the IBA’s ethics. The IBA is controlled by Umar Kremlev, a Russian who brought in the state-owned energy supplier Gazprom as its primary sponsor and moved much of the governing body’s operations to Russia.

“While IBA remains committed to ensuring competitive fairness in all of our events, we express concern over the inconsistent application of eligibility criteria by other sporting organizations, including those overseeing the Olympic Games,” the IBA said in a statement published on July 31. “The IOC’s differing regulations on these matters, in which IBA is not involved, raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athletes’ safety.”

The IOC previously stripped the IBA of its status as the global governing body for boxing due to governing issues and judging scandals. The Paris Boxing Unit, an ad-hoc unit, was used to organize this year’s Olympic tournaments. Khelif was cleared to compete in part because her passport identifies her as a woman and she has a medical clearance.

“I would just say that everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules,” Adams said. “They are women in their passports.

“These athletes competed many times before for many years. They didn’t just suddenly arrive.”

Her boxing record

Khelif is primarily an amateur boxer with a record of 41-9 with 6 KOs. She made her major tournament debut at the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, now the IBA. Khelif was eliminated in the first round of both the 2018 and 2019 lightweight tournaments. Khelif was the first female boxer to represent Algeria at the Olympics when she competed at the the 2020 Tokyo Games, losing to eventual gold medal winner Kellie Harrington of Ireland in the women’s lightweight quarterfinals. Khelif found more success at higher weight classes, finishing the 2022 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships as runner-up behind Ireland’s Amy Broadhurst at junior welterweight. Khelif had one professional fight in November 2023, defeating Suwanun Antanai via third-round TKO.

Success in this year’s Olympics

Khelif’s stoppage win over Carini at the 2024 Paris Olympics put her in the crosshairs of public opinion. Khelif and Carini received byes into the women’s welterweight Round of 16. Khelif subsequently swept Hungary’s Haromi and Thaliand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng by points to advance to Friday’s gold medal game against China’s Liu Yang.