Imane Khelif has asked Donald Trump to stay away from sports after he referred to her as a man following her Olympic gold medal win.
Trump mocked Khelif at a rally in Montana following the Algerian boxer’s gold medal win in France last weekend. He incorrectly said Khelif, who was the subject of intense global scrutiny over whether her gender allowed her to compete in women’s boxing, was transgender.
The boxer filed a cyberbullying lawsuit in France, apparently involving Elon Musk and JK Rowling, and did not prevent Trump from raging at her during an interview in Algeria with El Birad.
“Immediately afterwards there was a lot of noise from politicians, athletes, stars, artists – Elon Musk and Donald Trump – and that hurt me a lot, I can’t describe how scared I was,” said Khelif, 25.
‘This affected me. I’m not lying to you, it affected me a lot. It hurt me a lot. I can’t describe the fear I had, but thank God I was able to overcome it. Thank God, all the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew Imane Khelif for her femininity, her courage, her will.’
Imane Khelif has asked Donald Trump to stay away from sports after calling her a man
Donald Trump attacked Imane Khelif at his final rally in Bozeman, Montana, last Friday.
‘It was a very scary situation. Honestly, I don’t like to get involved in politics in sports, but they brought politics into sports.
‘Sport and politics are two different things. These politicians who oppress me have no right to say that I am transgender.
“It is a great shame for my family, for the honour of my family, for the honour of Algeria, for Algerian women and especially for the Arab world. Everyone knows that I am a Muslim girl.”
Trump, speaking in Bozeman, said: “Who wants men to participate in women’s sports? I’d like to congratulate the young woman who has evolved from a man to a woman. She won gold.
“And what about the woman, the beautiful woman from Italy? She walked in there and had no idea what was going on. She’s a very good boxer, but only against other women.”
She was referring to Angela Carini, who left the fight with Khelif last week 46 seconds after being hit in the nose. She was crying and said she had never been hit that hard before.
Trump faked the punch and then said, ‘He did this. She immediately said, wow, no one has ever hit me that hard.’
“Then he does it again and she gives up immediately.”
Khelif, who is not a transgender woman, reportedly has male “XY chromosomes,” which led to her disqualification from the 2023 World Championships when she failed unspecified gender eligibility tests administered by the now-banned International Boxing Association.
Speaking in France after winning gold, Khelif said through tears: ‘For eight years, this has been my dream, and now I am an Olympic champion and gold medallist.
“That also gives my success a special flavour because of those attacks. We are at the Olympics to perform as athletes and I hope we won’t see similar attacks at future Olympics.
“I am fully qualified to participate in this competition. I am a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman, I live as a woman and I am qualified.”