By Mariah Fede
Imane Khelif is the 2024 Women’s welterweight boxing Olympic champion. Her journey to gold was nothing short of a rocky road with worldwide criticism and false claims about her gender rolling into her path. Khelif won with a final tally of 5-0 and received her respective praises from her opponent as stated in an article by Michael Charles on the Olympics website. Olympic Silver medalist Yang Liu said “I tried my best, but my opponent was much better. She is an excellent fighter and so strong.” Khelif is a fighter in more ways than one. Her lawyer, Nabil Boudi, asked his legal firm to file a complaint with the Paris prosecutor’s office seeking justice on her behalf. Boudi claimed that Khelif was targeted by a “misogynistic, racist, and sexist campaign.” The prosecutor’s office addressed receiving the complaint and its Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime opened an investigation on cyber harassment and public discrimination charges. All this controversy began during her first fight in Paris, when Khelif’s opponent Angela Carini of Italy pulled out of the match within 40 seconds due to pain from the initial punches. People online began circulating claims that Khelif was either transgender or a man. Upon searching Khelif’s name, the top searches were “Imane Khelif birth certificate” and “Imane Khelif as a child.” Khelif had previously suffered a disqualification from the 2023 world championships after failing illegitimate eligibility tests from the currently banned International Boxing Association. She meets the IOC’s threshold for eligibility and was assigned female at birth. This is just one case of several regarding France’s hate crimes throughout the Olympics. Kristy Burrows, an official in charge of the International Olympic Committee’s safeguarding and mental health unit, allegedly received death threats and was the target of cyberbullying after defending Khelif during a news conference in Paris. If proven guilty, punishment for these crimes includes a two to five year prison sentence and fines ranging from 30,000 to 45,000 euros.
