The debate over transgender athletes has reared its ugly head once again at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, this time centered around Algeria’s Imane Khelif in women’s boxing, but who is the 25-year-old and what is her story?

Firstly, one thing that must be made clear is Khelif does not publicly identify as transgender, despite the theme of the discourse online and in the media, especially as being a member of the LGBTQ community is punishable with a three-year jail sentence in the North African nation of Algeria.

But that hasn’t stopped her from being controversially received after she defeated Angela Carini within 46 seconds, as her Italian rival quit after suffering two punches in their women’s boxing welterweight match on August 1.

Carini appeared to claim, “It’s not right,” that Khelif was allowed to fight, adding that she never felt a punch like that before prior to wishing Khelif well for the remainder of the tournament in France.

“I am not here to judge or pass judgement,” Carini told media after the bout. “If an athlete is this way, and in that sense it’s not right or it is right, it’s not up to me to decide.”

“I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honour my father. I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior, but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this.

“After the second blow, and after years of experience in the ring and a lifetime of fighting, I felt extreme pain in my nose. I said ‘enough’ because I didn’t want to. I couldn’t carry on in the match. I thought maybe it was better that I brought an end to the match.”

Who is Imane Khelif?

Khelif, aged 25, was born in rural town of Tiaret in Algeria, a nation found in North Africa that predominately practises Islam, where she had to sell scrap metal to fund her training following her father’s disapproval of the sport for girls.

The UNICEF representative managed to train and went on to make her debut as an amateur in the 2018 World Championships where she placed 17th, before a 19th finish in the 2019 Women’s World Boxing Championships.

As she continued to learn her craft, she was selected to represent her nation at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she reached the quarter-finals and was handed a loss against the Republic of Ireland’s Kellie Harrington.

Her first appearance in a final came in the 2022 Women’s World Boxing Championships where she finished as the runner up after losing to Amy Broadhurst, before success followed at the 2022 African Championships, Mediterranean Games and 2023 Arab Games, taking gold in each.

Khelif is thought to possess a genetic sexual differentiation disorder which can cause women and males to have excessive characteristics typical of the opposing sex. It’s unclear which type of disorders of sex development Khelif is thought to experience, and it is yet to be confirmed as true that she even does at all.

For born women, this can include unusually high levels of testosterone which can aid aggression and weight gain for training as well as speed and power, as well as XY chromosomes being present in their genetic code.

What is the controversy?

The storm comes over the gender ambiguity of Khelif following the International Boxing Association (IBA) decision to ban her on the eve of the 2023 World Championships along with another athlete.

The body had subjected her to a test during which the IBA refused to publish results on private medical grounds for the fighters, although it added Khelif and the other athlete, “were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.” Testosterone tests were not conducted.

Then in June 2023, the IOC stripped the IBA of its status as the world leading body of boxing as Khelif took an appeal to the Court for Arbitration of Sport although she later decided to withdraw the appeal.

The IOC, who already granted Khelif the right to compete in Tokyo 2020, also permitted her to enter the 2024 Olympic Games as she is registered as female on her official passport, which brings us up to the modern events.

“Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process,” the IOC said. “The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision.

“Which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years. Such an approach is contrary to good governance.”