Iman Khelif: The Controversial Olympic Champion Who Sparked Global Debate at the 2024 Paris Games

Iman Khelif is the most talked about athlete at the 2024 Games.

the 25-year-old Algerian Iman Helif – the most discussed participant in the Olympics taking place in Paris. The athlete became the champion of the 2024 Games in boxing in the weight category up to 66 kg. Even before the final, Khelif gained popularity after the Italian Angela Carini refused to face her opponent, unable to stand even a moment in the ring. As a result, Iman became an Olympic champion.

In 2023, Khelif was suspended from competition by the International Boxing Association (IBA) due to tests that showed that the athlete had a male Y chromosome, however, the IOC took an inter- different and allowed the Algerian to participate in the Paris Games.

Khelif’s performances caused a great stir. Her fight closed the evening of Olympic boxing on August 9, and Philippe Chatrier’s court, which holds 15 thousand spectators, was filled to capacity.

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Foreigners saw the progress of the Algerian male woman in a different way. For example, journalist Valerie Richardson from the American edition of The Washington Times in her material naming those opposed to the Algerian performance at the Olympics. For example, swimmer Riley Gaines from the USA, who hosts the OutKick podcast “Gaines on Girls”.

“Iman Khelif (XY) defeated world champion Yang Liu (XX) to win the Olympic gold medal. Let me repeat: FEAR brought the Women’s Olympic gold.” And this is called “progress”. The latest message on justice, safety and women by the IOC.” – wrote the girl, tagging the account of the International Olympic Committee.

Representatives of the Independent Women’s Forum are also disappointed.

“The IOC allowed Khelif to go through all the rounds, barbarically beating the best female boxers in the world, and now gave her a gold medal on the Olympic podium. “the group said in a statement.

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The IBA, the body that runs international boxing competitions, also expressed regret over Khelif’s victory. It was the IBA that stopped her from competing last year.

“The story of Iman Khelif became known even before the terrible fight with Angela Carini, but it was widely distributed on August 1st. The IBA emphasizes that competitions involving abusive athletes are unsafe and unfair to female boxers.

It is unfortunate that the IOC neglects the safety of the girls to harm the IBA out of bad faith. Now that Khelif has won the Olympic final in Paris, we can only express our regret that the female boxers were given the opportunity to celebrate their victory. “ – mentioned in the IBA press release.

But many support the woman from Algeria. And when it comes to IBA, some media shows especially in the material that this organization is “controlled by Russia” (the president is Umar Kremlev). Therefore, the British tabloid The Sun, in all its articles about the Algerian woman, refers to the decisions of the IBA in a negative way, reporting that the society is “controlled by Russia”.

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Another British media group, the Daily Mail, also raises doubts about the IBA tests. In the news, which publishes a quote from US presidential candidate Donald Trump (he called the Algerian woman “he”), the British show that the politician’s views are “wrong”.

“Since then, IBA representatives have largely refused to answer questions about how the process with these tests works,” – wrote in the British press.

In general, the attention to Khelif in the world media is huge. And the number of subscribers on the athlete’s social networks has increased almost 20 times.