IOC makes huge decision on Imane Khelif returning her Olympic gold medal
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made its decision on Imane Khelif potentially return the gold medal that she won at the 2024 Paris Games after calls were made for her to 'give it back'.
Khelif won the gold medal in the 66kg women's boxing event at the Paris Olympics last summer. However, her position was put in to the spotlight after the International Boxing Association [IBA] questioned her eligibility to compete in the women's event.
Both the IOC and IBA have been at loggerheads since - and in reality, it's a confrontation that has existed for years prior to Khelif and Paris. Just this week, IBA President Umar Kremlev criticised the IOC and its former President Thomas Bach for their handling of the Games and the Algerian boxer's involvement.
IOC's verdict on Khelif's gold medal
After Bach's 12 year tenure at the top of the IOC, today (27 June) Kirsty Coventry was announced as the president of the committee. In her very first meeting where she held a press conference, she seemingly gave the IOC's verdict on Khelif and the calls around her gold medal.
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In his interview with Mail Sport this week, Kremlev was critical of Khelif's gold medal win in Paris and asked her to return it. He said: "The IOC is not fighting for the fairness in sport. The IOC is giving away medals based on their political interests.
"Imane Khelif should be made to return the Olympic medal from Paris."
Coventry has indirectly responded to the IBA president in her very first press conference as the IOC President where she addressed 'protecting women in sport'.
Speaking on previous events, such as Khelif's win and the gold medal demand, Coventry said: "We are not going to be doing anything retrospectively.
"We are going to be looking forward. From the members that were here, it was ‘what are we learning from the past and how are we going to leverage that and move that forward to the future'."
SPORTbible reached out to IOC for comment, but were told there was nothing to add further from what was said in the press conference.
Female boxing, trans rights, and the Olympics
In her first meeting as president, Coventry announced that a new policy is expected to be introduced which would ban transgender and athletes with a difference of sex development from competing in female category events at future Olympics.
However, it was confirmed there would be no changes in the results of previous Olympics.
The IOC suspended its recognition of IBA in June 2023 after recommendations from its executive board.
After two years, the IOC then recognised World Boxing as the official governing body of the sport.
It was recently announced that the organisation was going to set up a mandatory testing to prove gender eligibility for both male and female athletes.
Under the new rules, Khelif would only be allowed to compete in women's boxing events if she conducted a gender test to prove that she is biologically female.
The Algerian was expected to make her return to the ring earlier this month in an event in Netherlands, but did not feature and the reason behind the same has not been revealed by her yet. Khelif is yet to speak publicly on the changes to women's boxing and eligibility.
Godwin Mathew