Olympic boxer Imane Khelif wants people to ‘refrain from bullying all athletes’
Imane Khelif has issued a heartfelt plea in her first interview following the Olympics gender row as she admitted people’s words can have ‘massive effects’.
It comes after the Algerian, 25, was disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi amid claims from the International Boxing Association that she was not able to meet their unspecified eligibility criteria.
Though she is one of the two athletes, along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, cleared to compete in the women’s boxing at Paris Olympic Games.
The International Boxing Association was permanently banned from the Olympics last year.
Khelif, who was born and raised as a girl, faced Italy’s Angela Carini in the Olympics round of 16 match on Thursday (1 August), when the opponent decided to abandon the match after 46 seconds.
Carini signalled that she was unable to carry on due to pain in her nose, according to her coach.
