Boxer Imane Khelif is biologically male, claims leaked medical report

Time of India

2 days ago

Medical test results from the 2023 World Championships revealed that Paris Olympics women's boxing champion Imane Khelif has male chromosomes, according to documents published for the first time.
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The disclosure comes just 36 hours after World Boxing mandated sex screening for Khelif's future eligibility in female competitions, adding complexity to the controversial saga surrounding the Olympic gold medallist.
The test results published on 3 Wire Sports website, conducted at Dr Lal PathLabs in New Delhi in March 2023, showed "abnormal" findings stating "Chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype." The laboratory is accredited by the American College of Pathologists and certified by the Swiss-based International Organisation for Standardisation.
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The published documents challenge IOC spokesman Mark Adams's claims, who had described the results as "ad hoc" and "not legitimate" during a Paris Olympics news conference.
IOC president Thomas Bach suggested the results were part of a Russian-led misinformation campaign, noting that the International Boxing Association, led by Russia's Umar Kremlev, had lost IOC recognition over ethics and financial management concerns.
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Khelif, aged 26, has maintained a defiant stance and expressed intentions to win another Olympic gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
World Boxing has established new rules requiring all athletes over 18 to undergo polymerase chain reaction genetic testing to determine their sex through mouth swab, saliva, or blood samples.
A medical report has been leaked which claims boxer Imane Khelif is biologically male. (Image: 3 Wire Sports)
Khelif, who competed in Paris based on female passport status, has not provided evidence of female chromosomes since the controversy began nine months ago.
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"I don't think I had ever felt like that in my 13 years as a boxer, nor in my sparring with men," said Mexican boxer Brianda Tamara, who fought Khelif in 2022.
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Italy's Angela Carini, who faced Khelif, reported being punched so forcefully that she feared for her life.
The controversy extends beyond individual experiences. Latin American boxing federations have been instrumental in pushing World Boxing to focus on biological sex for ensuring fairness and safety in women's competitions.
The Honduran federation communicated to the Women's Rights Network that "necessary measures should be taken so that only women by birth can compete in women's competitions."
The scandal gained additional attention when both Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting won Olympic titles in Paris, despite previous IBA bans for not having XX chromosomes.
Alan Abrahamson, an American journalist, first revealed during the Paris Games that the IOC had received warnings about Khelif having male DNA more than a year before the competition.