Imane Khelif, at center of gender firestorm, advances to gold medal boxing match
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Janjaem Suwannapheng of Team Thailand looks on as Match Referee Shawn Reese raises the arm of Imane Khelif of Team Algeria to announce the winner of the Women's 66kg Semifinal round match on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Algerian Imane Khelif won her semifinal match on Tuesday advancing to the gold medal match in the women's welterweight boxing tournament at the Paris Olympics.
Why it matters: Khelif, who is not transgender and has long competed in women's boxing — including at the Tokyo Olympics — has nonetheless found herself the center of an international firestorm amid questions about her gender.
The latest: Khalif won a unanimous decision against Thai boxer Janjaem Suwannapheng at Roland-Garros Stadium.
- The judges unanimously scored each round 10-9 in favor of Khelif.
- Khelif received massive cheers both before and throughout the match from the heavily pro-Algerian crowd.
- The two boxers embraced after the match.
Catch-up quick: Khelif, who was assigned female at birth and has always identified and competed as female, was banned in 2023 by the International Boxing Association for failing an unspecified gender test.
- Khelif is one of two boxers competing in Paris who was previously banned from competition by the IBA — a Russia-backed boxing governing body that the International Olympic Committee no longer recognizes.
- The IOC, which is running the Paris 2024 boxing tournament, has continued to defend the inclusion of Khelif and a Taiwanese boxer, Lin Yu-ting, while the IBA has lashed out at Olympic organizers for allowing the pair to box. The IOC does not have a specific rule on intersex boxers or policies mandating specific testosterone levels.
- The controversy surrounding Khelif went into overdrive last week after Italian boxer Angela Carini stopped fighting 46 seconds into their match and refused to shake the Algerian's hand. Carini later apologized but Khelif had already become a punching bag for a host of right-wing politicians and celebrities.
- Among those attacking Khelif have been former President Trump and his vice presidential pick Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Ga.), as well as Elon Musk, J.K. Rowling and others who frequently post anti-transgender views.
- For her part, Khelif has called for an end to gender-based bullying of athletes while steadfastly asserting her gender as female.
What they're saying: Both boxers had kind words for the other after Tuesday's match.
- "My opponent was really good," Khelif said. "But I trained for two weeks, and I learned how she fought from videos."
- For her part, Suwannapheng said: "I tried to use my speed, but my opponent was just too strong."
- Suwannapheng added that she had heard about the controversy surrounding Khelif but "wasn't following the discussion closely."
- "She is a woman, but she is very strong," she added.
The big picture: The controversy in Paris comes amid a broader debate over what rules should govern the inclusion of both transgender and intersex athletes — those whose biology does not neatly break down into male or female.
- There are a variety of intersex conditions, also known as differences of sex development. In addition, some women naturally produce higher levels of testosterone.
- The IOC revised its policy on transgender and intersex athletes in 2021, encouraging a balancing of fairness and inclusion, but leaving the thorny details to the international federations that govern each sport.
Zoom in: While there are no transgender women known to be competing in Paris, there are several transgender and nonbinary athletes who were assigned female at birth competing in the women's category.
- The women's boxing competition includes Hergie Bacyadan of the Philippines — who was assigned female at birth but identifies as male. Bacyadan lost his match on Wednesday but made history as the first openly transgender male to compete in the Olympics.
- Also competing in Paris in the women's division of other Olympic sports are two other athletes who identify as transgender and non-binary — Canadian gold-medal winning soccer player Quinn and U.S. runner Nikki Hiltz, who earlier Tuesday advanced to the semifinals of the women's 1500-meter race.
What's next: Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, the other boxer whose gender has been questioned, is scheduled to fight in her semifinal bout on Wednesday.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with added statements.
