Imane Khelif: Olympic Glory and the Gender Eligibility Storm
Imane Khelif just rocked the boxing world in Paris by taking gold in the women’s welterweight division—landing a stunning 46-second knockout of Angela Carini. But instead of simply celebrating her triumph, the Algerian champ finds herself at the center of another round: the fighting isn't just in the ring, it’s over who actually gets to fight at all. The backdrop to her gold medal win is a heated, global debate over gender eligibility policies in women’s sports, a conversation that’s just gotten a lot louder with World Boxing’s newly announced sex-testing rules.
Just months after her Olympic win, Khelif ran into a wall. World Boxing now mandates that boxers older than 18 have to pass a PCR test for the SRY gene—the gene that reveals the presence of a Y chromosome, typically found in biological males. This new requirement isn’t optional: any athlete who declines or fails the test faces an automatic ban from sanctioned competition. That’s exactly what happened in June: Khelif was barred from fighting in the Eindhoven Box Cup after refusing to take the test. Event organizers pointed directly to World Boxing’s directive, making it clear there was just no wiggle room.
The Rules, The Pushback, and the Road to LA 2028
So what’s really driving these new rules? World Boxing is under pressure to clamp down on who’s considered eligible for women’s categories. This comes after the International Boxing Association (IBA)—previously the sport’s main governing body—lost its Olympic status over corruption and governance issues. The IBA has a controversial record when it comes to gender testing; they went so far as to say Khelif’s DNA showed XY chromosomes and high testosterone. The fact that her measured levels—14.7 nmol/L—sit well above the limit most international sports use for women (often around 5 nmol/L) only pushed the debate into deeper waters.
The thing is, Khelif hasn’t actually broken any current Olympic rules. The International Olympic Committee and World Boxing both confirmed she did everything required of her for Paris, and made a point of saying that athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) aren’t the same as transgender athletes—a distinction that’s often blurred in public arguments and headlines.
Khelif isn’t taking these latest developments quietly. She’s called the accusations against her “baseless lies” and promised to fight both in and out of the gym to keep her career and reputation intact. Now, her training routine is up in the air as officials say every detail will be scrutinized before LA 2028. But for now, there are no concrete answers as to whether she’ll actually be able to step into the Olympic ring again.
Khelif isn’t alone in facing this kind of scrutiny. Boxers like Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting have also been dragged into gender testing disputes as World Boxing’s new policy hits all corners of the sport. As regulations change, athletes and their coaches are forced to rethink everything from training schedules to legal strategies. It’s shaping up to be one of the most contentious lead-ups to an Olympic Games in recent years, with the question of who can compete becoming just as fierce as anything that happens between the ropes.
The eyes of the boxing world—and beyond—are glued to what happens next with Imane Khelif as the clock ticks toward LA 2028. Her struggle is now about much more than medals; it’s about sports policy, science, identity, and the future shape of women’s competition.
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