Algerian Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif revealed on Wednesday that she had resorted to hormonal treatment ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. She, however, rejects accusations about her gender.
Published on: 05/02/2026 - 09:35
Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif, a recurring target of accusations about her gender, explained that she had used hormonal treatment to lower her testosterone levels before the Paris 2024 Olympics, while reaffirming that she was not "a trans", in an interview with L'Equipe.
"I have female hormones. And people don't know it, but I took hormonal treatments to lower my testosterone levels for competitions," said the 26-year-old Algerian.
Confirming having the SRY gene, located on the Y chromosome indicator of masculinity - "Yes and it's natural" -, Khelif explained "being surrounded by doctors, a teacher follows me (...) For the qualifying tournament for the Paris Games, which took place in Dakar, I lowered my testosterone level to zero".
“And I won the gold medal” in the -66 kg category, recalled the woman who then found herself at the heart of a huge global controversy and was the target of attacks and a disinformation campaign, presenting her as a “man fighting women”.
Like the Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting, also crowned in the -57 kg at the Paris Games, Khelif had been accused of being a transgender athlete, by several personalities including Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the British novelist J.K. Rowling.
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“I respect everyone, and I respect Trump. Because he is the president of the United States. But he cannot bend the truth. I am not a trans, I am a girl. I was raised as a girl, I grew up as a girl, the people of my village have always known me as a girl,” insisted Imane Khelif.
A test? “I will submit to it”
The boxer, who aims to participate in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, knows that to do so she will have to consent to a genetic test imposed by World Boxing, a body recognized by the IOC, and said she is ready.
"For the next Games, if I have to take a test, I will submit to it. I have no problem with that. I have already done this test. I contacted World Boxing, I sent them my medical file, my hormonal tests, everything. But I have had no response. I am not hiding, I am not refusing the tests," she assured.
And continues: "It's up to doctors and teachers to decide. We all have different genetics, all different hormone levels. I'm not a transsexual. My difference is natural. I'm like that. I haven't done anything to change the way nature made me. That's why I'm not afraid."
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Khelif, who has not fought since the Paris Games, World Boxing having prevented her from participating last year in the Eindhoven tournament due to lack of having undergone the chromosomal test which had just been put in place, is awaiting a French professional boxing license
"It's the logical next step," she said, but "it's not because I'm fighting professionally that I'm giving up on the 2028 Games. Not at all. I want (...) to become the one who, for the first time in Algerian sport, will manage to retain her Olympic title."
With AFP
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