Boxing champion Imane Khelif has revealed she was 'hurt' by the abuse she received, as her gender was speculated upon during the Olympics.
Speaking for the first time since launching a lawsuit that accuses the likes of Elon Musk and JK Rowling of aggravated cyber harassment, Khelif said politicians attempted to oppress her amid claims that she was transgender. The Algerian boxer won gold at welterweight in the Paris Games but was sent abuse as a result of the controversy.
The International Boxing Association, who were not in charge of the sport for the Olympics, claimed Khelif had failed a gender test in their competition. It saw conflict between the International Olympic committe and the IBA's stances develop into a toxic environment for the athlete.
"But immediately after there was a big uproar from big politicians around the world, athletes around the world, and even artists and stars, Elon Musk, Trump.. this thing..... that affected me," Khelif told El Birad.
"I am not lying to you, it affected me. It affected me a lot, hurt me a lot. I can't describe to you the amount of fear I had. The scenario was very scary. Thank god, all the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will.
"Honestly, I don't like to get into politics in sports, but they got into politics in sports. Sports and politics are two separate things. These politicians who are oppressing me, they don't have the right to say that I'm a transgender."
The 25-year-old has filed a criminal complaint to French authorities, with lawyer Nabin Boudi confirming both Rowling and Musk are mentioned in the body of it. The complaint has been filed with the anti-online hatred centre of the Paris public prosecutor’s office.
The lawsuit was filed against X, which means under French law it was filed against unknown persons. As a result that means there is scope to investigate all of those who abused Khelif.
“J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” Boudi 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.
“What we’re asking is that the prosecution investigates not only these people but whoever it feels necessary. If the case goes to court, they will stand trial. It could target personalities overseas.
"The prosecutor’s office for combating online hate speech has the possibility to make requests for mutual legal assistance with other countries. It’s the responsibility of lawmakers to issue sanctions to platforms, not ours. The lawsuit is filed and the facts remain."
The controversy surrounding Khelif rose to prominence throughout the Games. Angela Carini abandoned her opening round bout with the Algerian after just 46 seconds. The Italian was spotted in tears and refused to shake Khelif’s hand but has since apologised for the “controversy”.