Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Imane Khelif has revealed she was “terrified” after former President Donald Trump and X-Trust CEO Elon Musk questioned her gender.
The Algerian boxer, who found herself at the centre of a gender debate after her 46-second first-round bout against Italy’s Angela Carini at the 2024 Olympics, said the international furore “hurt me a lot” and “affected me a lot”.
While Trump referred to Khelif as a “he,” Musk was responding to X’s post indirectly calling Khelif a “man.”
“Elon Musk, Trump, this thing that influenced me, I’m not lying to you, it influenced me,” Khelife said in the interview. Translated in a video posted by journalist Sulaiman Ahmed“It came as a big shock to me and hurt me a lot. I cannot express in words how scared I felt. I was scared that people would say, why did Imane Khalif stick to this, why did bigwigs from all over the world make a fuss about it. I was scared but thank God and the experts who helped me get through this stage, I was able to get through this stage.”
“The scenario was very frightening. Thankfully, Algeria and the whole Arab world knew Imane Kherif’s femininity, courage and determination.”
Kherif’s gender became an international topic of discussion at the Paris tournament after Kalini conceded a goal 46 seconds into the match, sparking fierce criticism.
This follows Kheriff’s disqualification from the 2023 IBA World Boxing Championships due to suspected elevated testosterone levels.
Hours after Kheriff beat China’s Yang Liu to win the gold medal, Trump repeatedly referred to Kheriff as “he” at a campaign rally in Montana.
“I want to congratulate the young woman who turned male into a boxer. You see, he won a gold medal. What about the young Italian, the beautiful Italian boxer? She went into the match and didn’t know what was going on. She’s a very good boxer against other women, but she didn’t expect this. And then he was here and he threw one jab, boom, and she said, ‘Nobody’s ever hit me like that.’ And then he came in boom, and she said, ‘Okay, that’s enough.’ It’s crazy what they’re doing. This guy won a gold medal. Didn’t he win a gold medal today…
“How crazy is that? Four more years … and (Kamala Harris) wants it. She wants men to play in women’s sports.”
Khelif does not identify as transgender and was born female.
Musk offered his own opinion on the controversy earlier this month, responding to a quote tweet from former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines that read, “Men don’t belong in women’s sports #IStandWithAngelaCarini,” with a photo of the Italian boxer, who Gaines said hit him harder than anyone he’d ever faced.
“absolutely,” Musk quoted the tweet..
Khelif later named Musk and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling in a cyberbullying lawsuit. According to Variety.
Mr Kherif’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said Mr Trump “will inevitably be investigated” by the Paris prosecutor’s office.
“The lawsuit names J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk, among others,” Bowde told the outlet. “Because Trump tweeted it, it’s inevitable that he will be investigated by prosecutors, whether or not he is named in the lawsuit.”
Kheriff said questions about her gender hurt her and others.
“To be honest, I don’t like politics in the world of sports, but they’ve brought politics into the world of sports,” she said in the interview. “Sports and politics are separate. The politicians who are oppressing me have no right to say that I’m transgender.”
“This is a great disgrace for my family, for the honour of my family, for the honour of Algeria, for Algerian women and especially for the Arab world. The whole world knows that I am a Muslim girl.”
