Imane Khelif speaks out after naming JK Rowling and Elon Musk in lawsuit
Imane Khelif has spoken out after naming JK Rowling and Elon Musk in a lawsuit.
Khelif recently won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, after triumphing in the women's welterweight final just last Friday (9 August).
She is Algeria's first woman to ever win a gold medal in boxing at the Olympics.
However, her success was tarnished by an ongoing gender row, despite the fact that Khelif was born female and does not identify as either transgender or intersex.
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The controversy began when Khelif took on Italian boxer Angela Carini, who threw in the towel after just 46 seconds.
Carini later said she had 'never been hit so hard in my life', and made the decision to step out of the ring, where she refused to shake Khelif's hand afterwards. However, she later apologised for her actions.
Following that, it was claimed that Khelif and another female boxer, Li Yu-Ting, had allegedly failed the International Boxing Association's (IBA) 'gender eligibility test' at the 2023 World Championships.
The unspecified tests were run by the IBA, who are not affiliated with the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) later released a statement defending its decision to allow both athletes to compete at the Games.
Following the win, Nabil Boudi, the Paris-based attorney of Khelif, confirmed to Variety that Rowling and Musk have both been named in the complaint filed to French authorities over alleged 'acts of aggravated cyber harassment'.
Rowling took to Twitter during the Olympic Games, where she referred to Khelif as a 'male', and also accused her of 'enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered'.
Meanwhile, Musk shared a post from American swimmer Riley Gaines that claimed: "Men don’t belong in women’s sports."
To which Musk responded: "Absolutely."
Khelif has now spoken out about her experience, explaining that she was 'hurt' by the constant comments and speculation over her gender.
"Immediately after there was a big uproar from big politicians around the world, athletes around the world, and even artists and stars, Elon Musk, Trump.. this thing... that affected me," she told El Bilad, an Algerian-based news channel.
"I am not lying to you, it affected me. It affected me a lot, hurt me a lot. I can't describe to you the amount of fear I had.
"The scenario was very scary. Thank god, all the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will.
"Honestly, I don't like to get into politics in sports, but they got into politics in sports. Sports and politics are two separate things. These politicians who are oppressing me, they don't have the right to say that I'm a transgender."
On Tuesday (13 August) Boudi revealed to Variety that former US president, Donald Trump, would also be part of the investigation, stating: "Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution."
Meanwhile, Khelif's coach, Pedro Diaz, spoke about the impact the comments had on the boxer, explaining that the ordeal 'incredibly affected her' and 'everyone around her'.
He added: "The first time she fought in the Olympics, there was this crazy storm outside of the ring.
"I had never seen anything so disgusting in my life."
Tyla has contacted representatives for Elon Musk and JK Rowling for comment.
Topics: Imane Khelif, News, Olympics, Sport, JK Rowling
Lucy Devine