Imane Khelif, an Olympic gold medallist boxer, responds to Donald Trump’s designation of her a man by openly addressing “transgender” allegations made against her.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, bravely faced international criticism for misperceptions about her gender by naming JK Rowling and Elon Musk in a recent cyberbullying case. Khelif has now taken a jab at former US President Donald Trump, who flung mud on her name at a rally in Montana, as her name remains at the center of an unjustified controversy following her stunning triumph in France last weekend.
The 25-year-old Olympian faced the criticism head-on, describing how nasty remarks made by politicians like Trump had a detrimental effect on her in an interview with El Birad in Algeria.
Imane Khelif responds to Trump misidentifying her as a man
“Immediately after there was a lot of noise from politicians, athletes, stars, artists – Elon Musk and Donald Trump and that hurt me a lot, I cannot describe how scared,” Khelif said.
“This affected me. I’m not lying to you, it affected me a lot. It hurt a lot. I can’t describe the fear I had but thank God I was able to overcome it. Thank god, all the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will.
IMANE KHELIF RESPONDS TO DONALD TRUMP AND ELON MUSK:
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) August 14, 2024
“I saw that big personalities like Donald Trump had compared me to a man and it hurt me extremely.
I didn't understand this relentlessness and all this hatred. I was afraid but I got up again." pic.twitter.com/WdHRNX5oKp
Khelif was reared by women from birth. When it became known that she and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting had been barred from the 2023 World Championships due to gender eligibility tests administered by the now-banned International Boxing Association, they were met with a depressing hate train. Both of their instances are related to variations in sexual development (DSD), an underdiagnosed uncommon illness that can potentially cause XY chromosomes to develop in individuals who normally identify as women.
The Algerian athlete also accused politicians of bringing “shame” to her family and community by combining politics and sports. It was a terrifying situation. To be honest, I prefer not to discuss politics in sports, but they have.
Politics and sports are two different things. It is not appropriate for these politicians to claim that I am transsexual when they are the ones persecuting me.
This is a great disgrace to my family, my family’s honor, Algeria’s honor, Algerian ladies, and the Arab world in general. Everyone is aware that I am a Muslim girl.
What did Trump say about Imane Khelif?
Khelif’s comments follow after Trump confused the gold-winning Olympic athlete as a male during his August 9 speech to a crowd in Bozeman, Montana. “Who is in favor of guys playing women’s sports? My congratulations go out to the young lady who changed from being a guy to a boxer. He—she took home the gold medal.
He also made reference to Angela Carini of Italy, who faced Khelif in the Olympics but gave up the bout 46 seconds in after taking a blow to the nose. What about the attractive and youthful Italian boxer? When she entered, she was clueless about what was happening. When it comes to women, she is an excellent boxer. Trump continued.
Trump: And I'd like to congratulate the young woman who transitioned from a man into a boxer. You saw he won. She won the gold medal. pic.twitter.com/PXY01K7i4B
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 10, 2024
Trump, who was playing out the exchange between Khelif and Carini, insisted that the Italian boxer was compelled to fight a man in the boxing ring and kept referring to the former as a “he” throughout his remarks.
Khelif stated after taking home the gold that she had dreamed of becoming an Olympic champion for eight years. Because of such attacks, my success also has a unique flavor. We are here to compete as athletes, and hopefully there won’t be any more attacks of this nature in Olympic competitions in the future,” she remarked.
“I’m fully qualified to take part in this competition,” she said once more. Like all other women, I am a woman. I am qualified because I am a woman who was born and raised.
