Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has despatched a message to US President Donald Trump and different critics, declaring she is prepared to endure intercourse testing by the Worldwide Olympic Committee if that enables her to compete on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Imane Khelif Addresses Donald Trump, Confirms 2028 Olympic Intentions
“In fact, I might settle for doing something I’m required to do to take part in competitions,” Khelif advised CNN this week. “They need to shield ladies, however they want to concentrate that whereas defending ladies, they shouldn’t harm different ladies.”
The 26-year-old, who received gold within the ladies’s welterweight division on the Paris 2024 Video games, straight addressed misinformation about her identity. “I’m not transgender. I’m a lady. I need to stay my life. Please don’t exploit me in your political agendas,” she stated.
Response to Trump’s Government Order
Trump signed an government order in February 2025 titled “Protecting Males Out of Girls’s Sports activities,” which acknowledged that US coverage opposes “male participation in ladies’s sports activities.” In a January handle to Republican lawmakers, Trump incorrectly referred to Khelif as a “male boxer.”
Khelif responded straight in an ITV interview earlier. “I gives you an easy reply: the President of the USA decided concerning insurance policies in America. I’m not transgender. This does not concern me, and doesn’t intimidate me,” she stated.
When asked about returning to the US for the 2028 Video games, Khelif confirmed her intentions. “A gold medal, in fact. In America, Los Angeles,” she acknowledged.
World Boxing Ban and Courtroom Attraction
Khelif has been barred from World Boxing competitions since Might 2025, when the organisation introduced necessary genetic sex testing for all athletes. World Boxing, which obtained provisional recognition from the IOC in February 2025 to manipulate Olympic boxing, particularly named Khelif in its announcement earlier than later apologising.
The Algerian filed an attraction with the Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport in August 2025, looking for to overturn the choice. CAS rejected her request to droop the ban whereas the case proceeds, that means Khelif missed the World Championships in September. The attraction stays ongoing.
Khelif was previously disqualified from the 2023 IBA World Championships over alleged eligibility points, although the Worldwide Boxing Affiliation by no means disclosed particulars of the exams. The IBA was stripped of Olympic recognition in 2019 over governance and ethics considerations, and the IOC cleared Khelif to compete in Paris.
Private Background and Household Impression
Khelif was born on Might 2, 1999, in Aïn Sidi Ali, a small city in Laghouat Province, Algeria. She grew up in a conservative rural setting the place her father initially disapproved of her boxing. Her mom bought couscous to assist fund transportation to coaching classes.
Khelif competed on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, reaching the quarterfinals, earlier than successful gold in Paris. Her father, Omar, shared her start paperwork with the media in the course of the Paris controversy, stating: “That is our household official doc, Might 2, 1999, Imane Khelif, feminine.”
The web scrutiny from public figures took a toll on her household. “My mom was deeply affected, she was going to the hospital nearly daily,” Khelif revealed. “My relations had been additionally impacted, and the whole Algerian individuals felt the burden of the state of affairs.”
Khelif expressed shock that figures together with Trump and writer JK Rowling spoke about her state of affairs “with out having verified details.” She has filed cyberbullying lawsuits towards a few of her critics, together with Elon Musk.
The IOC’s new president, Kirsty Coventry, has initiated a process drive to look at gender eligibility points forward of the LA Video games. Khelif’s willingness to adjust to IOC-administered testing suggests she is positioning herself to compete, although she has specified the exams should come from Olympic authorities slightly than World Boxing .
“I’ve not surrendered as a result of justice is on my facet above all else,” Khelif stated of her ongoing authorized battle.
