A former training opponent of Olympic gold medal boxer Imane Khelif has now put the controversy surrounding her gender back into focus with recent comments.
A former boxing opponent of Imane Khelif has claimed the Olympic champion is a “man” and suggested the Algerian has been “biologically altered.”
Bulgarian-Nigerian women’s boxer Joana Nwamerue, who is a 6-0 professional boxer and sparred with Khelif in the past, labeled Khelif a “man” and became convinced during sparring sessions in February that the Algerian has “male power and male techniques.”
Per an interview with REDUXX:
“(Khelif) has some kind of internal issues. But he is a man. I will stay [by] my words until he/she does a test to prove to the world that he/she is a woman. But we all know that won’t happen,” Nwameru said.
The newest claims come in the wake of the Games in Paris, where Khelif – and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting – both won Olympic gold in boxing while being subjected to huge global scrutiny over eligibility due to their gender.
“I think we played 3-4 sparring sessions. I have a record of everything. I can confirm that this is a man to me. Male power. Men’s techniques, everything.”
Nwamerue claimed that she was told Imane Khelif has been “biologically altered” by living in the mountain ranges in her native Algeria, she added: “[Khelif’s] teammates came to me and told me ‘Imane is not a man. She is a woman and just lives high in the mountains with her relatives and parents, and so there may be a change in her testosterone or chromosomes and the like.’”
Imane Khelif Files Online Harassment Complaint After Gender Controversy
Imane Khelif won gold, but she is not going away without at least one more fight.
Khelif, the Algerian boxer who won the Olympic gold medal in the women’s boxing 66-kilogram division, filed a complaint over online harassment in Paris.
The 25-year-old athlete was subject to online scrutiny after one of her opponents, Italian boxer Angela Carini, abandoned their fight after 46 seconds and declared she “never felt a punch like this.”
Many mentioned that Imane Khelif was disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from last year’s Women’s World Championships after she failed a gender eligibility test.
However, Khelif was born female and does not identify as transgender or intersex.
Khelif filed the complaint to the National Center for Combating Online Hate.
Variety reports that the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, which has yet to receive the complaint, is expected to proceed with an investigation.
