Women’s welterweight boxing gold medal winner Imane Khelif has told Donald Trump to mind his business, after the US politician referred to her as a man during one his political campaigns.
Khelif stirred up controversy during the Paris 2024 Olympics contest, when her gender came up for questioning.
Trump, speaking at a rally in Montana, said Khelif was a transgender who was allowed to compete at the Olympics.
“Who wants men to participate in women’s sports? I would like to congratulate the young woman who has evolved from a man to a woman. He… She won gold.
“What about the woman, the beautiful woman, from Italy? She went in there and had no idea what was going on. She’s a very good boxer – but only against other women
“He did this. She immediately, wow, nobody has ever hit me that hard.
“Then he does it again and she immediately gives up,” Trump said mockingly.
Khelif gave it back to the loquacious Trump during an interview in Algeria with El Birad.
“Immediately after 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,’ the 25-year-old Khelif said.
‘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 thank God I was able to overcome it. Thank God, all the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will.’
‘It was a very scary scenario. Honestly, I don’t like to get into politics in sports, but they got politics into sport.
‘Sports and politics are two separate things. These politicians who are oppressing me, they don’t have the right to say I am transgender.
‘This is a big shame for my family, for the honor of my family, for the honor of Algeria, for the women of Algeria and especially the Arab world. They whole world knows I am a Muslim girl.”
Khelif, who is not a transgender woman, allegedly has male ‘XY chromosomes’ which led to her disqualification from the 2023 World Championships when she failed unspecified gender eligibility tests administered by the now-banned International Boxing Association.
