Imane Khelif's father reveals truth about Olympic boxer

One of the protagonists

Imane Khelif was one of the protagonists at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Algerian boxer captured the gold medal after getting embroiled in a controversy against her will.

Yang Liu

Khelif put any notion of controversy to one side by stacking win after win in Paris, beating Yang Liu of China for gold.

Algerian support

Khelif was supported en masse by the Algerian community in Paris, with fans adorning Roland Garros with the nation's colours of red and green, per Barney Ronay of The Guardian.

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Questions answered

Khelif's inclusion in the Olympics has caused controversy due to questions over her gender following a DNA test by the International Boxing Association last year. Fortunately, her father was able to answer any questions surrounding his daughter's gender.

A father to the rescue

Khelif's father has spoken. The boxer, who has become one of the biggest talking points of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, has seen how her gender was called into question after her fight with Angela Carini, who abandoned the bout after 46 seconds.

The Khelif controversy

The controversy stemmed from the fact that Khelif has a hyperandrogenic condition that raises her testosterone levels.

Omar Khelif speaks

The matter reached such a point that her father, Omar Khelif, came out to defend his daughter in an interview with AFP.

Staunch in his defense

Omar has been staunch in his defense of his daughter, stressing that she should not be exposed to this type of insinuation or any doubts about her gender.

"She's a girl"

"My child is a girl," Omar Khelif told AFP. "She was raised as a girl. She is a strong girl – I raised her to work and be brave."

He didn't want her to box

Omar admits that, at first, he tried to dissuade his daughter from boxing but that, once she took the step, he supported her completely.

A proud home country behind her

The boxer is already a legend in Algeria, where the president himself, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, congratulated her via Twitter.

"We will be with you whatever the results"

"You have honored Algeria, Algerian women and Algerian boxing. We will be with you whatever the results," he said in a tweet before Khelif's semi-final.

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