An Australian boxer who defeated the boxer at the centre of the Olympics ‘gender test’ controversy says her opponent wasn’t even that strong.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s participation in the women’s welterweight category in Paris sparked a storm of controversy after it emerged that she failed the International Boxing Association’s gender eligibility test.
Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, who also failed the test, both reached the finals of their respective weight divisions, with the Algerian fighting for gold on Friday night.
Australian Anja Stridsman defeated Khelif in 2019.
“I remember fighting her. She wasn’t particularly strong. Maybe she was a bit angry, but people get into this sport for different reasons,” said the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion.
‘I remember people saying to me, “I’m sure she’s a man” and “Good for you for hitting a man,” and that made me angry. Sure, it’s easy to believe she’s a man, she presents herself as masculine, but who are we to judge her? Let her look however she wants.
“I won the fight. Her power was no worse than any other woman in the division.”
Stridsman said it was time to have a conversation about “trans athletes in competitive sports,” but asked people to be kind to Khelif.
“Don’t judge before you have all the information at hand,” he said.
Stridsman said it was time to have a conversation about “trans athletes in competitive sports,” but asked people to be kind to Khelif.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s participation in the women’s welterweight category in Paris sparked a storm of controversy
Both Khelif and Lin Yu-ting were disqualified from last year’s women’s world championships for allegedly failing gender eligibility tests, but Games chiefs cleared them to fight in France.
They are now in the gold medal match in the welterweight and featherweight divisions respectively.
The debate came to a head regarding Khelif when she defeated her Italian opponent Angela Carini.
Carini retired from the fight after just 46 seconds after receiving a heavy blow, saying afterwards that she had “never been hit that hard in my life.”
Khelif said she did not care about the controversy surrounding her inclusion in the 66kg women’s boxing category.
However, Carini later said he “wants to apologize” to Khelif, whom he did not shake hands with after the fight.
After her semi-final win, Khelif said she did not care about the controversy surrounding her inclusion in the 66kg women’s boxing category.
Having avoided the media hype after his previous fights, Khelif broke his silence to state: ‘I don’t care what they say about me with the controversy.
“The only thing that matters to me is to stay at the right level and give my people the performance they deserve. I know that I am a talented person and this is a gift for all Algerians.”