World Boxing Mandates Controversial Testing Of Olympic Gold Medalist Imane Khelif In Order To Compete

Following a tumultuous media barrage at the Paris Summer Olympics, Algeria's Imane Khelif is dealing with yet another road block in her amateur boxing career.

It is reported that the Olympic gold medalist will not be able to fight in an upcoming World Boxing women's competition until completing a mandatory sex test. The organization said the competition in question is the Eindhoven Box Cup, which is June 5th through 10th.

In a letter sent to the Algerian Boxing Federation, World Boxing said that they decided to adopt madatory sex tests this month. They said the new policies are to make sure that all boxers competing in their events are as safe as possible.

"These new eligibility rules were developed with the express purpose of safeguarding athletes in combat sports, particularly given the physical risks associated with Olympic-style boxing."
World Boxing in the letter

The 26-year-old Khelif won gold in the women's welterweight division at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, despite controversy over the Algerian's gender eligibility. In that competition, she beat Italy's Angela Carini by forfeit, as Carini cried after the match because of the sheer power Khelif's punches.

That particular fight sparked backlash against the International Boxing Committee (IOC), for allowing Khelif to compete. The IOC said boxers were eligible for the women's division if their passports said they were female.

Last summer was not the first time Kehlif was under scrutiny over her gender. She was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for allegedly failing gender eligibility tests. The IBA president claimed unpublished test results showed Khelif had XY chromosomes, which are the sex chromosomes for men.

Khelif has only competed in female competion in amateur boxing, including getting silver at the 2022 World Championship in Istanbul. She has also won gold in the African Championships, Mediterranean Games, and the Arab Games.

Khelif has also made her intentions clear that she wants to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

The Latest Boxing News

Exclusive: Brian Norman Jr. Looking For The KO Against Jin Sasaki On June 19th

Several Major Fights Confirmed For Pacquiao-Barrios Undercard

Brian Norman Jr Predicts Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford Winner

Xander Zayas vs Jorge Garcia Perez Set Date For WBO Junior Middleweight Title