IMANE KHEIF is likely to KEEP the Olympic gold medal – despite being hit with fresh accusations of being a biological male.
Khelif won gold for Algeria at the Paris Games in 2024 – a year after being banned from International Boxing Association competition.
In 2023, the IBA banned Khelif after tests taken in New Delhi allegedly produced the DNA of a “male”.
The IOC – who replaced the IBA as the Olympic’s boxing governing body – were warned about the tests and urged to remove Khelif from the competition.
But Khelif was allowed to box in Paris because of her female passport status.
Since then, the alleged sex-test results from the 2023 World Championships have been published for the first time by 3 Wire Sports.
The medical report appears to indicate that the boxer is biologically male.
American journalist Alan Abrahamson produced the result of a test said to have been carried out on the boxer in New Delhi in March 2023 – which triggered the boxer’s disqualification.
The document published summarises the findings on Khelif as “abnormal”, stating: “Chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype.”
A karyotype refers to an individual’s complete set of chromosomes, which in Khelif’s case has been reported by (IBA) as being XY, the male pattern.
The leaked medical reports have sparked calls for Khelif to be stripped of the gold medal she won in the women’s 66 kg category.
However, Doraine Lambelet Coleman – a Thomas L. Perkins Distinguished Professor of Laws at Duke Law School – explained why that is unlikely.
The legal expert told Newsweek: “The IOC would not revoke medals won by athletes who were eligible according to the rules it set for the boxing competition in Paris.
“Unlike the eligibility rules set by the IBA and now World Boxing, those rules did not require competitors to be biologically female.”
The alleged test results carry the letterhead of Dr Lal PathLabs in New Delhi, accredited by the American College of Pathologists and certified by the Swiss-based International Organisation for Standardisation.
This directly challenges what IOC spokesman Mark Adams said in a tense news conference at the Paris Olympics.
He described the results that saw Khelif banned as “ad hoc” and “not legitimate”.
IOC president Thomas Bach even claimed that the results are the product of a Russian-led misinformation campaign.
It followed after the IBA – headed by Russia’s Umar Kremlev – had been stripped of IOC recognition in a row over ethics and financial management.
Khelif has always denied being a biological male and even named JK Rowling and Elon Musk in a cyberbullying lawsuit.
And the 26-year-old has vowed to fight on, even eyeing another gold at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
‘Silence is no longer an option’
But World Boxing has ruled that Khelif is ineligible to enter future events as a woman without first submitting to the same chromosome testing that has already triggered the boxer’s disqualification at global level.
The governing body – provisionally approved to run Olympic boxing in LA – announced that all athletes in its competitions over 18 years old must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex.
The test detects chromosomal material through a mouth swab, saliva or blood.
Khelif has failed to provide any evidence of having female chromosomes in the nine months since the gender scandal erupted.
In February, Khelif spoke out in her defence and wrote: “For two years, I have taken the high road while my name and image have been used, unauthorised, to further personal and political agendas through the spreading and dissemination of baseless lies and misinformation. But silence is no longer an option.
“The IBA, an organisation that I am no longer associated with and which is no longer recognised by the IOC, have again made baseless accusations that are false and offensive, using them to further their agenda.
“This is a matter that concerns not just me but the broader principles of fairness and due process in sport.
“My team is carefully reviewing the situation and will take all necessary legal steps to ensure that my rights and the principles of fair competition are upheld.
“Those responsible for these actions must be held accountable, and we will pursue all legal avenues to ensure that justice prevails.”
An IOC spokesperson told Sun Sport: “The IOC has always made it clear that eligibility criteria are the responsibility of the respective International Federation.
“The factors that matter to sports performance are unique to each sport, discipline, and/or event.
“We await the full details how sex testing will be implemented in a safe, fair and legally enforceable way.”
