Imane Khelif, Paris Olympics medalist, says will take legal action against over male chromosome claims

The Guardian reported that Khelif has filed a legal complaint with French authorities over the online abuse and harassment she was subjected to during the Games. It quoted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as saying that she was now also taking action over new reports which emerged in France earlier this week which alleged that the 25-year-old has XY (male) chromosomes.

The claims had gone viral on social media, with several X users saying Italian boxer Angela Carini should be given the gold medal.

Also Read: Imane Khelif stuns internet with her ‘absolutely gorgeous’ looks after Olympic gender row: Here’s the boxer’s message

Khelif’s gender an election issue in US?

Donald Trump used Khelif’s example in an ad criticizing the Biden-Harris administration’s gender-ad sports policy, turning Khelif’s gender into an election issue. When asked about their stance on transgender issues, Republican leaders such as Vivek Ramaswamy and JD Vance similarly stated that they would not permit men to participate in female-only sports.

In response to the row, Khelif had earlier stated that she was born a woman. “I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born as a woman, I live as a woman, and I am qualified.” She claimed that the gender controversy sparked by former US President Donald Trump, author J.K. Rowling, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk had impacted her a lot. She named Rowling and Musk in a criminal complaint filed with French authorities over alleged “acts of aggravated cyber harassment”.

The boxer took gold in the women’s welterweight competition at the Paris Olympics. It became a huge controversy with the International Boxing Association saying the Algerian had been disqualified from last year’s world championships for failing gender eligibility criteria. The IBA was stripped of recognition by the IOC last year over governance failures. That meant it was the IOC set the entry criteria for the Olympic boxing tournament in Paris.