The 26-year-old competed for Algeria at Paris 2024, winning the 66kg tournament. The boxer made headlines around the world after defeating Italian fighter Angela Carini in just 46 seconds in the round of 16. Openly expressing concern over her opponent’s gender, Carini claimed she feared for her life before opting to withdraw from the contest. While none of Khelif’s other opposition followed in Carini’s footsteps, the controversial fighter’s gender was the subject of much speculation throughout her run to Olympic gold.
Khelif was cleared to compete at the Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its Paris Boxing Unit, despite the Algerian boxer having been disqualified from the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships after she allegedly failed a number of gender tests.
Quizzed about those failures, IOC president Thomas Bach questioned the legitimacy of the tests that Khelif is believed to have failed. Now, the test documents at the heart of the controversy have been leaked.
Imane Khelif Sex Test Results Revealed in Leaked Document
The reigning Olympic champion looks unlikely to defend her crown in 2028
Per a report from The Telegraph, documentation shows that Khelif ‘is biologically male’. Beneath a results summary of ‘abnormal’, the test result reads: “Chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype.”
The results have a date stamp of the 17th of March 2023. Contrary to claims about their legitimacy, the tests were administered by Dr Lal PathLabs in New Delhi – a laboratory which is accredited in full by the American College of Pathologists and certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation.
This new evidence would appear to make it even more challenging for Khelif to make a competitive comeback to the sport. As mentioned, in order to defend her Olympic crown in Los Angeles in 2028, World Boxing officials have confirmed that she will need to successfully pass the same chromosome testing that she failed above.
It has already been announced that the governing body that will oversee boxing at LA 2028 will require all athletes in its competitions over 18 years old to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex.
Putting aside the above test results, Khelif – who was ultimately allowed to box at Paris 2024 as a result of her female passport status – has yet to produce any evidence of having female chromosome since the controversy over her participation erupted during the last Olympics.
