After bulldozing through the women’s field at the Paris Olympics, the Algerian boxer says World Boxing’s new sex testing policy is unfair and damaging.
PublishedAugust 31, 2025 1:09 PM EDT•UpdatedAugust 31, 2025 1:09 PM EDT
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Once again, Imane Khelif is pretending to be the victim — this time in an exclusive sit-down with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport in which the Algerian boxer complains about backlash from the 2024 Paris Olympics and plays dumb about World Boxing’s new sex-testing policy.
Let me remind you who we’re talking about here.
Khelif, a reportedly DSD (Differences in Sex Development) male athlete, bulldozed through the women’s field in Paris last summer, winning every match by unanimous decision and taking home the Olympic gold. That win sparked outrage, not just because a male competed in the women’s division, but because — as OutKick reported at the time — many of the women left that ring bruised, bloodied, and broken.
Yet Khelif claims to be the one who was wronged in this story.
“My experience at the Olympics shows that any athlete can become a victim, and what happened was very damaging,” Khelif told La Gazzetta, “but I managed to stay focused without being influenced by the hype surrounding it.”
This year, World Boxing introduced mandatory genetic testing for all athletes competing in the female category. It’s a straightforward requirement: if you want to compete as a woman, you must take a one-time genetic test proving you are, in fact, female. Of course, Khelif has a huge problem with this new policy.
“As an athlete, I dedicate my entire life to training and preparation, and I respect the rules as they are written. But when external pressures make everything unclear, it becomes easy to be subject to sudden and unfair decisions,” Khelif said. “This not only harms the athlete, but also the very spirit of the sport, which should be based on transparency and mutual respect.”
The test looks for the SRY gene — the sex-determining region on the Y chromosome that triggers male development. If it’s present, the athlete is male and ineligible for the female category. That’s about as clear and transparent as it gets.
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Before Paris, World Boxing had no such policy. As a result, a DSD male won Olympic gold in the women’s welterweight division. Another, Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan, won gold in women’s featherweight. Lin, too, coasted to victory — winning every bout by unanimous decision.
Imane Khelif Refuses To Simply Take The Test
In the interview last week, Khelif insisted: “Those who harm women will never break their resolve.”
Well, that we can agree on. Because Khelif harms women in the ring. And clearly, there’s no breaking this athlete’s resolve to keep doing it. As OutKick reported last week, the 26-year-old has no plans to retire anytime soon.
And Khelif doubled down on that statement during the La Gazzetta interview.
“No, I have no intention of retiring. Winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics has given me further motivation,” Khelif said. “I faced many challenges to achieve this success, including bullying, and I want to continue fighting to silence those who doubt me. With my sporting achievements, my goals have grown. I want another medal, and I want to help create more opportunities for women in sports.”
This is the quote that really sent me over the edge. How is a male athlete punching women in the face… creating more opportunities for women in sports?
Imane Khelif plans to keep boxing against women.
(Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
The interview ends with Khelif saying, “I’m optimistic the next Olympics will be different,” hoping for a “more equitable and just sporting environment.”
That’s true, actually. They will be different. One, because World Boxing now has mandatory sex testing in place. Two, because the 2028 Games are in Los Angeles. Earlier this summer, the Trump Administration updated visa guidance to prevent male athletes from entering the United States to compete in female sports categories.
So if you’re a biological male seeking to punch women in a women’s Olympic event? You won’t even make it through customs.
Of course, this could all be cleared up if Khelif simply took the test to confirm eligibility. But we all know that won’t happen.