Olympic boxer Imane Khelif’s father is speaking out about the controversy surrounding his daughter at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
On Saturday, August 3, the boxer’s father, Amar Khelif, opened up in an interview with Reuters about his daughter’s passion for boxing and said her recent winning streak, which has secured her at least one bronze medal, has made him proud.
“Having such a daughter is an honour because she is a champion, she has honoured me and I cheer her on, and I hope she gets the medal in Paris,” Amar told Reuters. “Imane is a little girl who has loved the sport since she was six years old.”
While speaking to the outlet, Khelif’s father also shared an official-looking document, which showed her date of birth and gender. “This is our official family document, May 2, 1999, Imane Khelif, female. “It’s written here, you can read it, this document doesn’t lie,” she said.
Khelif has been the center of a gender-based controversy following her Thursday, August 1, bout against Italian boxer Angela Carini, who pulled out of her bout against Khelif, citing a serious nose injury.
After the bout, critics of the Algerian boxer argued that she should not have competed at the Olympics after being disqualified from the 2023 world boxing championships for failing an unspecified gender eligibility test by the International Boxing Association (IBA), according to an Associated Press report.
The IBA claimed at the time that the eligibility test results showed Khelif had elevated levels of testosterone, but other boxing officials argued that the test results were not transparent, and the IBA has since been suspended from being part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to corruption allegations, according to ESPN.
The IOC has since reaffirmed its decision to allow Khelif to compete in the games. According to AP, “Khelif was assigned female at birth and is listed as such on her passport, which is the International Olympic Committee’s eligibility threshold for boxing.”
Khelif has previously been candid about how close she is with her family, and has said they have been influential in her boxing career. In an interview Sunday, Aug. 4, with SNTV, an Associated Press sports video partner, she talked about staying connected with them while competing in Paris during the Olympics.
