Sports Desk10 minutes ago
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Iman Kheleif won gold in the welterweight category on Saturday.
Algerian boxer Iman Khelife has filed a legal complaint against online harassment on social media over her gender.
Iman has been accused of being a biological male in the past as well. Due to this, she was not allowed to play the final match of the 2023 World Championship. At the same time, after the match of Italian boxer Angela Carini in the Paris Olympics, she is being trolled on social media.
Iman had to face a lot of criticism and hatred during the Paris Olympics. In fact, in the pre-quarterfinals, she punched Italian boxer Angela Carini in such a way that she knocked herself out of the competition within 46 seconds. After this, Kheleef faced a lot of opposition. She was also trolled a lot on social media. However, despite this, she won the gold by defeating China’s Young Liu in the final of the welterweight category on Saturday.
Iman Kheleef was disqualified just before the gold match of the World Championship-2023.
Iman Khalifa registered a complaint
After winning the gold, Iman has filed a legal complaint against those trolling her on social media. According to the Associated Press report, Kheleef has complained about the wrong comments being made against her and the talk about her gender. After filing the complaint, she said- “Whatever is being said about her on social media is wrong. She wants to change the mindset of people around the world, so she has taken this step.”
After winning the gold medal, Kheleef said that “Becoming an Olympic champion and winning a gold medal was her 8-year-old dream, which has now been fulfilled. She is just like any other woman.”
Already being accused of being a man
Iman Kheleef has been accused of being a man since 2023. Due to this, she was also disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) before the final match of the World Boxing Championship. She is accused of being a biological male. After disqualifying her in 2023, IBA had said that during the DNA test, X, Y chromosomes were found in Kheleef’s body. Which are found in men. IBA had cited high levels of testosterone in Kheleef’s body. At the same time, Kheleef had called IBA’s decision a big conspiracy.
After leaving the match, Carini even refused to shake hands with Khalif and cried in the ring before leaving.
Controversy started with Angela Carini’s match
On the sixth day of Paris Olympics 2024, the match between Italy’s Angela Carini and Algeria’s Iman Khelife in the welterweight category of women’s boxing ended in just 46 seconds. Here Iman Khelife punched the female player playing against her so hard that she fell in the boxing ring and started crying. After this, she refused to continue the match further. Angela Carini alleges that Iman Khelife is a man. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit supported her and issued a joint statement saying that every player coming to the Paris 2024 Games is examined.
There is no test for being a man or a woman in Olympic sports
The IOC has stopped the test to identify gender in 1999. A player who participates in boxing is required to have a gender certificate and the Algerian player had that gender certificate. All the boxing matches that take place in the Olympics are organized by the IOC, so the IBA test is not considered in this.