Imane Khelif is Here to Knock Out the Haters
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Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s celebrations after winning gold at the Olympics have become overshadowed by a more concerning issue - she recently filed an online harassment complaint for the public treatment she endured during her participation at the Games.
It all started when Imane won her opening fight after only 46 seconds because her opponent, Italian boxer Angela Carini, pulled out of the fight, saying she couldn’t manage the pain from the first hits. Khelif’s strength and boxing skills were therefore questioned, bringing up how she had been disqualified from the 2023 World Championships because she failed undisclosed gender eligibility tests conducted by the now-banned International Boxing Association.
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People started insinuating her unusual testosterone levels indicated she was actually a man and therefore had an unfair advantage over her competitors. Even though this information, as well as the tests, were deemed unreliable by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it was still misconstrued as an argument to make hateful and transphobic remarks about Khelif, attacking her appearance and misgendering her. Imane was born female, identifies as such, and has lived as a female her whole life. The only explanation people found about her innate talent was that a woman couldn’t be that strong. As TikTok user @caroclaireburkeee perfectly put it, “In sports, we tend to see this argument that there is a range of strength or ability within which women are allowed to compete, and if they surpass that range, we get into the conversation of ‘are they men?’, but for men there is no limit. [...] When men are extraordinary they’re just men, but when women are extraordinary they are deceiving you, they are somehow men”. Yet lies kept being spread through awful online comments - even coming from public figures like X owner Elon Musk and openly anti-trans author J.K. Rowling. Through it all, Khelif stayed determined and went on to win the gold medal in the welterweight category. But Imane has been overcoming gender-related challenges ever since she started training.
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Growing up in a small village in north-western Algeria, it was common for boys to play outside and girls to be inside the house. When a local boxing coach spotted her playing outside with the boys, he invited her to train with him. The gym was 10 km from her house, so her mother would sell couscous and scrap copper to pay for her trips. But the neighbors started talking, questioning how a girl was allowed to make such commutes on her own. To ease her journey and stop the local speculation, her uncle offered her a place to stay in Tiaret to get closer to the gym.
Her talent was undeniable and her skills improved quickly, allowing her to compete in the 2018 Women’s World Championships, where she finished in 17th place. Her determination and incredible resilience allowed her to get to where she is now and not let bullies determine who she really is. “She does not believe in defeat and does not care about these rumors”, her uncle Rachid mentioned. However, no one should ever be subjected to such treatment, which is why she decided to take the matter of her Olympic harassment into her own hands and file a formal complaint to the French authorities.
“Bullying can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying”
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Therefore, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office (National Center for the Fight Against Online Hatred) has asked the Central Office for the Fight Against Crimes Against Humanity and Hate Crimes (OCLCH) to launch an investigation into Imane’s case into the counts of cyber harassment due to gender, public insult because of gender, public incitement to discrimination and public insult because of origin. While it was launched against X, meaning it is against unknown people, Elon Musk and J.K. Rowling are some of the few named directly because of their involvement.
After the Olympic Committee supported her justly and allowed her to compete, making her the first female boxer to win a gold medal for Algeria, Imane returned home with a warm welcome from her fellow nationals eager to celebrate their medal-winning athletes. As for her case, it’s now up to the French authorities to conduct their investigation and find a way to make up for the cruel treatment she received online in the last weeks, hopefully putting an end to this nonsensical discussion.