Algeria’s Imane Khelif prepares for a courtroom battle after boxing her way to gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Khelif filed a legal complaint in France on Friday, claiming she was a victim of online harassment.
Khelif’s Olympic journey became a hostile talking point following her quick Aug. 1 stoppage of Italy’s Angela Carini, driving unsubstantiated claims about Khelif’s sex, gender and genetics. The anger towards Khelif, 25, arose after she failed an unspecified gender test in 2023 from the International Boxing Association, a sanctioning body that has been banned by the Olympics since 2019.
Khelif’s team filed the complaint with the Paris Prosecutor’s office, according to a statement released by Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi.
“All that is being said about me on social media is immoral,” Khelif said on Saturday, per Reuters, one day after beating China’s Yang Liu in the women’s welterweight finals. “I want to change the minds of people around the world.”
Boudi’s press release states the criminal investigation must focus on the initiators of the harassment, as well as those who amplified the “digital lynching.” Additional details published by French publication Le Monde see X accused of spreading a “massive” and “coordinated” campaign of cyberbullying.
Taiwan’s Yu Lin-Ting, whose sex and gender were also questioned during the Olympic boxing cycle, is reportedly considering joining Khelif’s lawsuit.
