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In response to an unsubstantiated revelation regarding the gender of gold medallist Imane Khelif, tennis icon Martina Navratilova has reaffirmed her belief that the Algerian boxer should not have been permitted to compete against women at the Olympics in Paris.
On X, Navratilova wrote, “And her we are.” “Imane is a biological male and shouldn’t have been permitted to box at the Olympics, even though she may have been brought up as a woman.”
When Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan won Olympic gold as women during the summer, they were accused of being biologically male, which sparked a gender issue. A leaked medical report in the German tabloid Bild this week asserts that Khelif is a “biological male” with male traits, bringing the gender controversy back into the public eye.
The report’s credibility has not yet been established. Expert endocrinologists from France and Algeria who worked at the Mohamed Lamine Debaghine hospital in Algiers and the Kremlin-Bicetre hospital in Paris are said to have collaborated to put it together in 2023.
Navratilova made fun of Khelif’s legal action on X after she filed a cyberbullying complaint in France after the Olympics, allegedly naming detractors like JK Rowling and Elon Musk, among others.
“[Is] JK Rowling still being sued by Imane?” Navratilova inquired. “I wish you luck in that lawsuit.”
The German newspaper revelation caused Navratilova and other celebrities to gloat.
After learning of the news, Piers Morgan took to X to demand that Khelif’s gold medal be taken away from her and to criticize the IOC’s decision to let her to compete at the Paris Games.
“Khelif is a biological man,” he said, “confirming what some of us said at the time.” “The best real woman should now receive the gold medal instead.”
Khelif easily won her first two bouts in Paris, but her Olympic debut ended in controversy when Italian opponent Angela Carini, who claimed to be in too much agony from Khelif’s punches, tearfully resigned after just 46 seconds.
In the middle of last year’s world championships, the Russian-affiliated International Boxing Association banned Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting for allegedly failing eligibility tests for the women’s competition.
Three days after Khelif overcame unbeaten Russian prospect Azalia Amineva, who had restored Amineva’s pristine record, the IBA ruled against her.
The criteria by which the IBA concluded that Khelif have XY chromosomes are still unknown, according to The Washington Post.
The testing process has not been disclosed by the IBA, which was expelled from the Olympics prior to the 2021 Tokyo Games.
In the end, Khelif won gold at the Olympics in Paris by a unanimous decision over Yang Liu, a Chinese boxer.
“As for whether I qualify or not, whether I am a woman or not, I have made many statements in the media,” she said in a previous outburst to reporters following her gold medal win at the Paris Olympics, claiming she is a biological female.
“I am completely eligible to participate in this competition.” Like all women, I am a woman. Without a doubt, I was born a woman, lived as a woman, and competed as a woman.
I refer to [the critics] as the opponents of achievement. And because of these attacks, my success also has a unique flavor.
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