Imane Khelif’s Gold Medal Controversy: Achievements Overshadowed by Gender Debate
Controversy also followed Imane Khelif — an Algerian boxer whose impressive performance made her one of the stars of the day. The Paris Olympics saw Khelif win a gold medal in the women’s 66kg division, beating every single round in her four bouts without losing a fight. Khelif’s success in the ring didn’t hide the fact that many questioned her sex. Appearing third in voting for the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year behind WNBA star Caitlin Clark and gymnast Simone Biles, she finished third.
The problem was that Khelif had been disqualified from boxing in the World Championships in 2015 because of reports she had XY chromosomes and testosterone levels similar to a man. The Olympics weren’t directly about whether she was transgender, or about the sex issue, though that became inseparably wrapped up in a larger debate about whether transgender women should play in women’s sports, which was a huge media story. The Semenya case was a similar case of a South African athlete with the same ‘Difference of Sexual Development’ (46, XY) condition, meaning athletes with a male pattern of hormones and internal testes though with a female genitalia.
But Algerian sports officials defended Khelif, saying that, just as in the Semenya case, she was not getting an unfair advantage through her biology. Despite Khelif’s gender legally and socially accepted as female in Algeria, many in the boxing community and wider world were quick to criticize her inclusion in Saturday’s fight. One of her opponents, Angela Carini, said she’d never been hit so hard by a woman after losing to Khelif in their 46-second match.
As policies around transgender athletes evolve, that firestorm pointed to a larger issue in sports fairness and gender when it comes to competition. A messy, contested topic, Khelif’s case intertwines athletic achievement, but difficult questions of sex, gender, and fairness in competition sports.
