The coach of controversial Olympic Gold medalist Imane Khelif has let slip that a ‘problem with chromosomes’ prompted boxing chiefs to ban her from women’s competition last year.
The International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified her after conducting medical tests which suggested the powerful welterweight was ‘biologically male’.
But the Algerian brushed aside all opposition after being allowed to compete as a woman by the Olympics, simply because it said ‘woman’ in her passport.
Now her coach, Georges Cazorla, has confirmed that the tests identified ‘a problem with hormones’ and ‘with chromosomes’, suggesting that she may have the XY gender chromosomes typical of a man.
‘This poor young girl was devastated, devastated to suddenly discover that she might not be a girl,’ he told French magazine Le Point.
Imane Khelif celebrates with her gold medal after winning the women’s welterweight boxing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games amid a storm of controversy
Khelif’s coach Georges Cazorla has admitted that it was a ‘a problem with hormones’ and ‘with chromosomes’ that led to her previously being banned from women’s competition
Italy‘s Angela Carini threw her helmet onto the floor and sobbed after just two devastating punches from Khelif in the round-of-16 on August 1.
The police officer from Naples said she had ‘never been hit so hard in my life’, as she lost in just 46 seconds to her opponent from across the Mediterranean.
Now Spanish national coach Rafa Lozano has revealed that Khelif was considered too dangerous to pair with women at a boxing retreat in Madrid ahead of the Olympics.
‘They were doing a retreat at Blume and we couldn’t put her with anyone,’ he told Radio Marca.
‘We put her with Jennifer Fernandez and it hurt her. Whoever we put her with was injured.’
He said coaches only found a match for her after pairing her up with Jose Quiles, one of Spain’s leading male boxers.
‘I don’t see it as fair,’ he said. ‘Everyone can think what they want, but that’s how I see it.’
Khelif has been hailed as a national hero after dispatching China’s Yang Liu in the final, and was selected as one of Algeria’s flag bearers for the Olympic closing ceremony in Paris on Sunday.
But the success of Khelif, and of Taiwan’s Gold medalist Lin Yu-Ting, has brought intense pressure on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to tighten up who can compete in its women’s categories.
Khelif took the gold after a bout with Liu Yang of China on Friday, defying those who criticized her or spread misinformation about her gender
Spanish national coach Rafa Lozano has revealed that Khelif was considered too dangerous to pair with women at a boxing retreat in Madrid ahead of the Olympics.
The organization has not conducted chromosomal tests since 1999, and stopped testing for elevated testosterone levels in 2021 after concluding that they prevented ‘fairness, inclusion and non-discrimination on the basis of gender identify and sex variation’.
‘Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules,’ said IOC spokesman Mark Adams last week.
‘They are women in their passports and it’s stated that this is the case, that they are female.’
But Carini was not the first former opponent to testify to the power of Khelif’s punches.
Mexican boxer Brianda Tamara Cruz said she was lucky to escape with her life after sharing a ring with the Algerian at the Golden Belt Series Finals in Guadalajara in 2022.
‘When I fought her, I felt it was very out of my reach, I was hurt a lot by the punches,’ she said.
‘I think I had never in my 13 years as a boxer felt like this, not even in my sparring with men.
‘Thank God, that day I came out of the ring well.’
On Friday Olympics chief Thomas Bach again defended Khelif’s right to box but added that he would be the first to adopt an agreed ‘scientifically solid system’.
‘This system is working and so therefore our decision is clear,’ he added. ‘Women should be allowed to take part in women’s competitions and the two are women.’
The IBA has refused to share further details of its tests, saying the ‘specifics’ would ‘remain confidential’, and Khelif has now filed a formal legal complaint with French prosecutors urging them to investigate online harassment.
‘Having just won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the boxer Imane Khelif has decided to take on a new fight: that of justice, dignity and honor,’ her lawyer Nabil Boud said on Saturday.
‘Ms Khelif has recruited (our) firm which has filed, yesterday, a complaint for aggravated cyber harassment with the online hate unit of the Paris prosecutor’s’ office.
‘The criminal investigation will determine who has initiated this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign but will also focus on who has fed this digital lynching.
‘The unfair harassment suffered by this champion boxer will remain the greatest stain of these Olympic Games.’
Khelif was banned from the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year after tests indicated she had XY chromosomes
But she won gold on Friday in the face of online hatred and claims that she is ‘biologically male’
Khelif has lodged a complaint with French police against aggravated cyber harassment and slammed critics who ‘cannot digest my success’
The 25-year-old welterweight is now a national hero and was selected as one of Algeria’s flag bearers for the Olympic closing ceremony in Paris on Sunday.
But in its own statement, the IBA condemned ‘inconsistencies in eligibility’ at the Paris Games, adding: ‘Both Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting post testing, did not meet the required eligibility criteria to compete within the female category of our respective events.
‘The urgent nature of the decision (to disqualify the boxers) was justified, as the safety of our boxers is our top priority.’
Khelif told a press conference after winning her medal: ‘I am a woman like any woman. I was born a woman and I have lived as a woman but there are enemies to success and they can’t digest my success.’
She later added: ‘All that is being said about me on social media is immoral. I want to change the minds of people around the world.’
