An Olympic boxer claimed she had to ‘preserve her life’ when quitting her fight against Imane Khelif after just 46 seconds at Paris 2024.

Khelif, representing Algeria, won the gold medal in the women’s welterweight category in Paris after defeating China’s Yang Liu in the final.

But there was significant controversy surrounding the victory amid question marks raised over Khelif’s gender eligibility.

Back in 2023, Khelif was disqualified from the World Championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test.

The Algerian’s boxer father told Sky Sports that Khelif was born and raised as a girl, with then-IOC president Thomas Bach stating there was ‘never any doubt’ over whether she is a woman.

The original row stemmed from comments made by the vice-president of the International Boxing Association (IBA) – who administered the World Championships.

He claimed that Khelif and another Olympic boxer, Lin Yu-ting, were found to have XY chromosomes.

However, in July 2023, the IOC decided to strip the IBA of its status as boxing’s world governing body, due to concerns over its governance of the sport.

Khelif then rose to public prominence after her first appearance at Paris 2024, in the second round.

She received a bye from the first round before taking on Italy’s Angela Carini, who decided to quit the fight after just 46 seconds.

Carini later told BBC Sport: “I wasn’t able to finish the match. I felt a strong pain to my nose and I said for the experience that I have and the maturity as a woman that I have, I said I hope my nation won’t take it too badly, I hope my dad won’t take it badly. But I stopped, I said stop for myself.

“It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life as well in that moment.”

The Italian later apologised to Khelif for her comments, telling Gazzetta dello Sport: “All this controversy makes me sad.

I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.

“It wasn’t something I intended to do.

Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.”

What is happening to Imane Khelif now?

Days after she won the gold medal, Variety reported that Khelif and her legal time had filed a criminal case against Twitter (X) over alleged ‘acts of aggravated cyber harassment’.

Then, in February of this year, she accused the IBA of making ‘false and offensive’ accusations after it launched its own lawsuit, this time against the IOC, over their decision to allow Khelif to compete in Paris.

There have been fresh developments in the situation over recent days, with World Boxing – the sport’s new governing body at amateur level – confirming that Khelif would have to take a gender eligibility test in order to compete in future events.

Image: World Boxing

In a letter written to the Algerian Boxing Association, they state: “Imane Khelif may not compete in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup or in any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes genetic screening in accordance with World Boxing’s rules and testing procedures.”

The test can detect the presence of ‘specific genetic material’, including Y chromosomes.

A leaked document, claimed to be from a 2023 result of the same type of test, was reportedly published by Dr Lal PathLabs in New Delhi, and then shared on the 3 Wire Sports website by Olympics writer Alan Abrahamson.

The tests – which have already previously dismissed by the IOC as ‘not legitimate’ and something that did not ‘deserve any response’ – claim that the test brought an ‘abnormal result’ revealing a ‘male karyotype’. SPORTbible have contacted the IOC for further comment.

Featured Image Credit: Getty