Boxing

Boxing Chief Demands Imane Khelif Be Stripped Of Gold Medal For 'Abnormal' Test Results

A boxing commission president is asserting that Imane Khelif return her Paris 2024 Olympics gold medal because of "abnormal" testing results.
Grant Young|
Imane Khelif (Algeria) celebrates gold on August 9, 2024.
Imane Khelif (Algeria) celebrates gold on August 9, 2024. | IMAGO / Newscom World

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, Khelif's participation in the event, despite being the focal point of intense scrutiny regarding her eligibility because of how she has abnormally high testosterone levels, caused a ton of controversy in the sports world about whether it was fair for her to compete against other women.

The controversy hasn't subsided much, despite the Olympics now being nearly a year in the past. There have been several news stories and developments about various testing mandates, which could put Khelif's gold medal in flux.

And another example of this has arrived recently, after the International Boxing Association (IBA) revealed that Khelif had failed what it had called gender eligibility tests at the 2023 World Championships, as it was reportedly found that she possessed XY chromosomes in tests conducted in 2022 and 2023.

As a result of these failed tests surfacing, IBA president Umar Kremlev has called on Khelif to return the gold medal she won in Paris last summer.

"The IOC is not fighting for the fairness in sport. The IOC is giving away medals based on their political interests. Imane Khelif should be made to return the Olympic medal from Paris," Kremlev said, in an email with The Daily Mail.

"The first test was carried out during the 2022 World Championships, after we noticed some suspicious, suspicious moments. We decided to test a group of athletes, not just one or two. Two of the results came back, let's say, abnormal. It was the first time we had encountered a situation like this, so we felt it was necessary to conduct a second round of testing to be absolutely sure before making such a serious decision."

Kremlev later added that the IOC was informed about the test results, but ultimately decided to not take action in allowing Khelif to compete.

Kremlev nor the IBA has the authority to force Khelif to return her gold medal. But they are making their desire for Khelif to do so explicit.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.