Olympic Champion Imane Khelif Fights Back Against Sex-Testing Ban

Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif has filed an appeal against World Boxing’s decision to bar her from future competitions unless she undergoes genetic sex testing.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed on Monday that the Algerian boxer lodged her appeal last month. Khelif had hoped to compete in the World Boxing Championships beginning this Thursday, but CAS rejected her request to suspend the ruling while the case is under review.

Khelif rose to global prominence after clinching gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics, alongside Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, another champion who faced similar scrutiny. Both athletes were controversially disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the now-discredited International Boxing Association (IBA), which accused them of failing vague “eligibility tests.”

The IBA has since been sidelined by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to years of corruption scandals, with the IOC directly overseeing boxing at the past two Olympic Games. Under IOC eligibility rules, Khelif and Lin were fully cleared to compete.

World Boxing, which has been provisionally approved to organize the sport for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, has faced mounting pressure to establish its own gender eligibility standards. In May, it introduced mandatory sex testing for all athletes, controversially naming Khelif in its announcement—a move it later apologized for.

Determined to defend her welterweight title in Los Angeles, Khelif is now battling not just opponents in the ring but also what she and her supporters see as an unjust policy. Meanwhile, new IOC president Kirsty Coventry has launched a task force to address gender eligibility issues in sports, signaling that the debate is far from over.