Imane Khelif left a rival fighter thanking God for avoiding serious injury after facing her in 2022, almost two years before sparking a gender dispute at the Paris Olympics.
Khelif defeated Italy’s Angela Carini on Thursday. She retired 46 seconds into the fight after being hit in the nose in the opening exchanges. After the fight, she cried and said she retired for her own safety and that she had never been hit that hard before.
And she is not the only athlete to make such comments after facing Khelif.
In December 2022, Khelif defeated Brianda Tamara in Guadalajara, Mexico, so decisively that Tamara couldn’t believe she had escaped serious injury.
Months later, in March 2023, Khelif was disqualified before the final of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship due to the levels of testosterone in her system, prompting Tamara to speak out about it.
Imane Khelif left a rival fighter thanking God for avoiding a serious injury in a 2022 fight
Mexican fighter Brianda Tamara showed her injuries from fighting Khelif in 2022
Briana Tamara spoke out in March 2023 about how hurt she was by the fight with Khelif.
She wrote on X at the time: ‘When I fought with her (Khelif) I felt very out of place, her punches hurt me a lot.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this in my 13 years as a boxer, or in my fights with men.
‘Thank God I got out of the ring safe and sound that day, and thank goodness they finally noticed.’
A post uploaded to Tamara’s Instagram account just two days ago shows her cut and bruised face with a caption explaining that it was after the fight with Khelif.
On Thursday, as Khelif’s fight with Carini threatened to overshadow the Paris Games so far, Tamara responded to Claressa Shields, an American boxer, on X saying that people had sent her death threats after her comments about fighting Khelif.
Shields wrote: ‘I’m taking a stand! Women should fight women, men should fight men, and transsexuals should fight transsexuals! This is ridiculous and it breaks my heart to think of female boxers in the Olympics!’
Tamara replied: “But they wished me death when I reacted.”
Khelif herself complained about her disqualification in 2023, saying at the time: ‘There are some countries that did not want Algeria to win a gold medal.
“This is a conspiracy, a big conspiracy, and we are not going to remain silent.”
Genetic testing in 2023 has reportedly shown that Khelif, 25, has XY male chromosomes in her DNA. But she is not transgender.
There have already been similar debates in the sporting arena, as South African runner and two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 800 metres, Caster Semenya, also has XY chromosomes in her DNA. However, the debates here are much more intense, given the physical nature of boxing.
Italian boxer Angela Carini cried as she left the fight with Khelif after 36 seconds.
Khelif will fight next Saturday against Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori at the Paris Games.
Khelif, who was defeated in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics, will fight next Saturday against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori, who says she is not worried.
“I’m not afraid,” Hamori told reporters. “I don’t care about the story in the press or on social media. If she or he is a man, it will be an even bigger victory for me if I win.”
‘I’m trying not to use my phone before the fight. I don’t want to worry about the comments, the story or the news.
“I just want to focus on myself. I did that before my last two fights, so I think this is the key and we’ll see.”