SportsImane Khelif reaches Olympic final amid gender controversy

Imane Khelif reaches Olympic final amid gender controversy

Imane Khelif advanced to the finals of the Paris Olympic Games, defeating Thai boxer Janjaem Suwannapheng in the semi-finals. Before the bout, the Algerian's father addressed the "gender controversy," which his daughter became the centre of. He presented her birth certificate.

Imane Khelif's father showed her birth certificate. Sharp reaction to the scandal
Imane Khelif's father showed her birth certificate. Sharp reaction to the scandal
Images source: © Getty Images | BFMTV, Richard Pelham
Karol Osiński

The controversy surrounding Imane Khelif emerged after her fight against Italy’s Angela Carini, who withdrew from the match after 26 seconds. The boxer from the Apennine Peninsula said she had never felt such powerful punches and that her quick surrender was due to fear for her own life.

Journalists worldwide focused on the Algerians, and netizens speculated about her gender. The doubts are compounded by the fact that before the 2022 World Championships, the boxer did not pass gender tests, which prevented her from competing in the IBA. The person in question maintains that she is a woman.

Imane Khelif advanced to the finals of the Olympic Games and can count on strong support from her family and the entire population of Algeria. Even her father, who stands firmly behind her, spoke out. He decided to show his daughter's birth certificate.

Imane Khelif's father showed her birth certificate

Omar Khelif appeared on the French television channel BFMTV, where he talked about his daughter and her story. He assured the camera that she was a woman, showing the entries on her birth certificate.

She's a strong girl. I raised her to be hard-working and brave. She has a strong will to work and to train — he said.
Imane Khelif's father showed her the birth certificate.
Imane Khelif's father showed her the birth certificate.© BFMTV

After winning the semi-final, Imane Khelif spoke out, appealing to critics to refrain from hate speech.

I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects — she said.
Related content
© Daily Wrap
·

Downloading, reproduction, storage, or any other use of content available on this website—regardless of its nature and form of expression (in particular, but not limited to verbal, verbal-musical, musical, audiovisual, audio, textual, graphic, and the data and information contained therein, databases and the data contained therein) and its form (e.g., literary, journalistic, scientific, cartographic, computer programs, visual arts, photographic)—requires prior and explicit consent from Wirtualna Polska Media Spółka Akcyjna, headquartered in Warsaw, the owner of this website, regardless of the method of exploration and the technique used (manual or automated, including the use of machine learning or artificial intelligence programs). The above restriction does not apply solely to facilitate their search by internet search engines and uses within contractual relations or permitted use as specified by applicable law.Detailed information regarding this notice can be found  here.