Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, Olympic champion in Paris, is at the center of accusations and controversy. The athlete defends herself again and says she was raised as a girl.
Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif has revealed she underwent hormone therapy to lower her testosterone levels ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, again insisting she is not transgender. “I have female hormones. People don’t know, but I went on hormone therapy to lower my testosterone levels for competition“, said the 26-year-old Algerian in an interview with L’Equipe.
The Algerian confirmed that she is a carrier of the SRY gene, located on the Y chromosome, which indicates masculinity. Khelif explained that it was “surrounded by doctors, a teacher was monitoring me (…) For the qualifying tournament for the Paris Games, which took place in Dakar, I reduced my testosterone level to zero. And then I won the gold medal (no – in the 66 kg category)“, recalled the pugilist, who later found herself at the center of a campaign that presented her as a “man fighting against women“.
“I was raised as a girl”
Like Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, also a gold medalist in the -57kg category at the Paris Games, Khelif has been accused of being a transgender athlete by several prominent figures, including Donald Trump, Elon Musk and British author JK Rowling.
“I respect everybody and I respect Trump for being the president of the United States. But it cannot distort the truth. I’m not trans, I’m a girl. I was brought up as a girl, people in my village always knew me as a girl”, Imane Khelif insisted.
The boxer, whose goal is to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, knows he will have to consent to a genetic test mandated by World Boxing, an organization recognized by the IOC, and said he is ready.
“For the next Games, if I have to do a test, I will do it. I have no problem. I have already done this test. I contacted World Boxing, sent them the medical file, the hormone tests, everything. But I got no answer. I don’t hide anything, I don’t refuse tests“, she also said.
