Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif responds to Donald Trump and Elon Musk
Boxer Imane Khelif responds to Trump’s transphobia after winning Olympic gold: ‘It hurt a lot’ (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Boxer Imane Khelif has spoken out about being the target of online vitriol during the Paris Olympics, telling Donald Trump, Elon Musk and others, who scrutinised her gender online, to keep politics out of sports.
Khelif faced a social media storm over her inclusion in the women’s boxing event, with outspoken personalities such as author JK Rowling criticising her participation despite the International Olympic Committee confirming she complied with their regulations.
The Algerian welterweight went on to win the gold medal, beating Yang Liu of China in the final, by a unanimous decision.
Speaking afterwards about the online abuse, Khelif singled out former US president Trump, who misgendered her and incorrectly claimed she had “transitioned from a man” to compete.
“There was a lot of noise from politicians, athletes, stars, artists, Elon Musk and Donald Trump, and that hurt me a lot, I cannot describe how scared I was,” she told Algerian news channel El Bilad.
“This affected me. I’m not lying to you, it affected me a lot. It hurt a lot. I can’t describe the fear I had but I was able to overcome it. All the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will.”
She went on to criticise Trump for getting involved in the online abuse. “I don’t like to get into politics in sports, but they got politics into sport. Sports and politics are two separate things.
“These politician oppressing me, they don’t have the right to say I am transgender.”
Khelif has filed a lawsuit over “acts of aggravated cyber harassment”, explicitly naming Rowling and Musk after they targeted her in transphobic posts.
“JK Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” Parisian lawyer Nabil Boudi, who is representing Khelif, told Variety. “Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.”
Boudi added that although the lawsuit was filed in France, “it could target personalities overseas,” because the “the prosecutor’s office for combating online hate speech has the possibility to make requests for mutual legal assistance with other countries”.
Controversial influencer Logan Paul has admitted spreading misinformation about the boxer, having tweeted about an early-round bout: “A man was allowed to beat up a woman on a global stage, crushing her life’s dream.”
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