Who is Imane Khelif? The Olympic boxer who failed a gender eligibility test (2024)

Imane Khelif is scheduled to fight at the Paris Olympics today, two days after her controversial boxing match with Angela Carini.

On Thursday, Italy’s Carini quit just 46 seconds into her round-of-16 bout with Khelif, after the Algerian landed one significant punch.

Last year, Khelif was disqualified from the women’s World Championships in New Delhi for failing a gender eligibility test. At the same tournament, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting was also disqualified for failing to meet the gender eligibility criteria of the International Boxing Association (IBA). Lin competed at the Olympics on Friday and came through her first encounter.

The IBA did not specify why the boxers failed their gender eligibility tests but did clarify that neither underwent testosterone examinations. Neither Khelif, 25, nor two-time world champion Lin, 28, identifies as transgender or intersex.

Khelif’s win over Carini sparked controversy, as the latter withdrew after the Algerian landed the first clean punch of the fight. Carini immediately turned to her team and opted against continuing, and the Italian soon collapsed to her knees in tears. Carini, 25, could be heard telling her coach, “It’s not right, it’s not right,” and she later told reporters that she had never been hit so hard in her career.

Khelif is next scheduled to fight this afternoon at 4.22pm BST against Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary, who posted controversial images and rhetoric on Instagram ahead of the bout. A victory would guarantee Khelif a bronze medal at 66kg and the chance to compete for silver or gold.

Carini, speaking after her fight with Khelif, said: “For me, it’s not a defeat. For me, when you climb those ropes, you’re already a warrior; you’re already a winner. Regardless of everything, it’s okay, fine like this. I didn’t lose tonight [...] I only did my job as a fighter. I got in the ring and I fought. I didn’t make it. I’m coming out with my head held high and with a broken heart.

“I’m a mature woman. The ring is my life. I’ve always been very instinctive, and when I feel that something isn’t right, it’s not giving up. It’s having the maturity to stop, it’s having the maturity to say: ‘OK, that’s enough.’

“I got in the ring and I said: ‘I’m going to give it all I’ve got, regardless of the person in front of me, who doesn’t interest me at this moment.’ I had to give my best. So, with regard to all the controversies, I was never interested. I went in and I just wanted to win.” Speaking to the BBC, she added: “It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life as well in that moment.”

Later, Carini expressed regret at her behaviour in the aftermath of the fight and said she would like to apologise to Khelif.

“All this controversy makes me sad,” said Carini in an interview with Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport, according to the BBC and the Associated Press. “I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.

“It wasn’t something I intended to do [not shake her hand]. Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke. I don’t have anything against Khelif. Actually, if I were to meet her again I would embrace her.”

The 2023 women’s World Championships were run by the IBA, which is no longer recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Instead, this summer’s Olympic boxing is being run by the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), an ad-hoc unit established by the IOC’s Executive Board.

The IOC said in a statement at the start of the tournament: “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit.

“The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games.”