Imane Khelif gender proof finally revealed? Father breaks silence as his 'little girl' faces huge outcry at Olympics
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif's father has come forward to defend his daughter amid questions over gender identity.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif on Saturday broke down in tears after securing a medal at the Paris Olympics amid global outrage over her gender. She has made her way to the semi-finals in the women's 66kg event after giving a powerful performance against Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori 5-0.
Imane made international headlines when she overpowered her Italian opponent Angela Carini, who gave up the fight after just 46 seconds.
The 25-year-old Algerian boxer's father has come forward to defend his daughter amid questions over her gender identity. He asserted that Imane was born and raised as a girl.
“My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl. She's a strong girl. I raised her to be hard-working and brave. She has a strong will to work and to train,” Omar Khelif stated in an interview with Sky News.
Imane's father says my 'daughter was stronger' than Italy's Carini
Denouncing the backlash against her as “immoral” and “unfair”, he urged his daughter to bring a gold medal for her nation and shut all her critics.
“The Italian opponent she faced was unable to defeat my daughter because my daughter was stronger and she was softer,” he added.
Omar showed an official document dated 2 May, 1999, verifying that the Algerian boxer's identity as female, as per Reuters.
According to Imane's father, his “little girl” has loved sport since the age of six and these “critics and rumours aim to destabilize” her as they don't want her to become the world champion.
“I tell her prove them wrong in the ring and I hope that she will honour Algeria and Arabic countries and win the gold medal,” he asserted, calling her “our role model”.
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Imane and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting are allowed to compete in the Olympics, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) following different criteria than the International Boxing Association (IBA), which disqualified both boxers from last year's World Championships after they failed a testosterone and gender eligibility test.
Imane defeated Carini in a mere 46 seconds on Thursday, following the Italian boxer withdrawal, who said: “I preferred to stop for my health,” prompting a controversy regarding Imane's eligibility.
IOC insists Khelif and Yu-ting are women
Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC emphasised on Saturday that there was “never any doubt” that Imane and Yu-ting are female.
“We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman,” he stated.