Imane Khelif issues defiant message weeks after being 'banned' from Olympic boxing
Olympic gold medallist Imane Khelif has issued a defiant message about her Olympic achievements weeks after being banned from boxing in the women's category in future Games.
The Algerian boxer made headlines when she won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 66kg women's category.
She dominated the event but away from the ring, sparked huge debate after reportedly failing the International Boxing Association (IBA) gender eligibility tests at the previous World Championships.
Despite that the International Olympic Committee [IOC] allowed here to compete in Paris and she dominated on her way to win the gold.
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However, a year later, Khelif has now been banned from all boxing events by the official governing body under new rules unless she provides proof of being biologically female.
The Algerian is yet to respond to the ban, but has now posted a message on Instagram. Khelif's Instagram story had a picture of her with the Olympic gold medal with: "Happy Olympic day" written with it.
She followed that with another story about the Olympic day, which is celebrated on 23 June every year.
The gold medallist had recently also posted on the occasion of Global Parents Day.
In February 2025, World Boxing made an official statement about new gender tests boxers would have to take in order to compete in future events.
"The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on 'sex, age and weight' to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women," said World Boxing in their official statement.
"The policy is in the final stages of development and has been crafted by a specially convened working group of the World Boxing medical and anti-doping committee, which has examined data and medical evidence from an extensive range of sources and consulted widely with other sports and experts across the world."
The body had also singled out Khelif in the official statement, but later apologised for doing so.
Khelif has always participated in the women's category of boxing.
However, since failing the IBA's gender eligibility tests some have raised questions after the IOC granted her permission to compete in Paris.
Khelif was set to participate in the Eindhoven Box Cup in Netherlands between 5 and 10 June this year, but she did not register for the competition under the new rules.
The Algerian had won the event in Netherlands last year after beating Australia's Marissa Williamson-Pohlman in the final.
The 26-year-old has not revealed the reason behind not participating in the competition, but the tournament media director told the Associated Press that it was not their decision.
Godwin Mathew