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Algerian boxer has become a lightning rod for gender issues in sport following a gold medal win at the 2024 Paris Games.
Published Feb 10, 2026 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 2 minute read
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Algeria’s Imane Khelif poses on the podium with the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Getty ImagesArticle content
Imane Khelif has provided context on the boxer’s biological makeup after becoming the central figure in a debate about transgender athletes during the 2024 Olympics.
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Khelif, who won women’s gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, told French media outlet L’Équipe that in addition to a female phenotype, the Algerian also has the SRY gene, which is correlated with males.
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“It’s natural,” Khelif told L’Équipe. “I have female hormones. And people don’t know it, but I’ve already lowered my testosterone levels for competitions. I’m surrounded by doctors, a teacher is following me, and I’ve taken hormonal treatments to lower my testosterone levels. For the qualifying tournament at the Paris Games, which was held in Dakar, I lowered my testosterone level to zero. And I won the gold medal there.”
Algeria’s Imane Khelif (in red) punches Italy’s Angela Carini at the Paris Games. Photo by Getty Images /Getty ImagesPolarizing figure in boxing
The details come after the World Boxing Organization announced last August it would introduce mandatory sex testing for all WBO competitions, specifically mentioning Khelif when announcing the policy.
Khelif has since pulled out of WBO events, according to CNN, arguing that the boxer has become a lightning rod for the culture wars in sport and targeted by some of the most powerful people in the world. U.S. President Donald Trump name-checked Khelif’s Olympic victory to justify restrictions on certain athletes under the executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” one of his first acts as president.
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Khelif told CNN that being in political battles isn’t the goal.
“I’m not transgender. I’m a woman. I want to live my life… Please do not exploit me in your political agendas,” Khelif said.
What about the 2028 Olympics?
The WBO’s move may prompt the International Olympic Committee to introduce sex testing guidelines of its own in the run-up to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. IOC president Kirsty Coventry has spearheaded an initiative she calls “protecting the female category” in sports.
Currently, the IOC’s framework on “fairness, inclusion and non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex variations,” released in 2021, includes notes that no athlete should be prevented from participating based on an alleged competitive advantage and evidence is needed to prove such claims.
But Coventry says there’s support for revamping regulations.
“We understand that there’ll be differences depending on the sport… but it was very clear from the members that we have to protect the female category, first and foremost to ensure fairness,” she told the BBC in June 2025
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Khelif maintains there’s nothing to hide, and any IOC requirements will be followed.
“Of course, I would accept doing anything I’m required to do to participate in competitions,” Khelif said. “They should protect women, but they need to pay attention that while protecting women, they shouldn’t hurt other women.”
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