Misinformation on Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is floating again. Around her first match in Paris 2024, many people, including British writer J.K. Rowling, claimed she’s a trans woman. Some even are using a video to claim she defeated a Mexican boxer in the current Olympic Games, but it’s false.

Imane Khelif is a cis woman

Misinformation about Imane Khelif’s gender began running in 2023, after she won a match against the Mexican boxer Brianda Cruz. This match took place during Golden Belt Series (GBS) Session 8, an event organized by the International Boxing Association (IBA).

IBA conducted genetic tests on Khelif and Taiwanese Lin Yu Ting. According to her profile on the official Olympics website, Khelif’s testosterone levels, like Lin’s, didn’t meet the IBA’s eligibility criteria, as they were higher than expected.

None of the aforementioned tests proved that the athletes were assigned male at birth. Nor has any evidence been offered of the alleged gender transition of either of either athlete. In practice, Algeria continues to criminalize LGBTIQ+ populations, including with imprisonment, making legal recognition of trans identities impossible. According to Olympics spokesperson Mark Adams explanation, Khelif’s passport indicates she’s a woman.

On the other hand, Lin Yu Ting will have his first mashup on August 2nd facing Uzbek Sitora Turdibekova, in 57 kg (Featherweight) category. Despite Taiwan legally recognizing trans people, there’s no evidence of an alleged gender transition in her case.

Test do not prove Khelif is a men

Tests conducted on Imane Khelif and Lin Yu Ting don’t prove they are biologically male, as claim. Grace Huckins, Stanford’s neurosciences PhD candidate, explains that these cases are neither the only nor the first when hormone levels have being used to discriminate against female athletes.

“There was not yet any direct evidence of the relation between natural testosterone levels and athletic ability in elite women,” she wrote in Scientific American in 2021. Even more: “One study of elite Swedish athletes found no association between testosterone and athletic performance, and a recent study of teenage athletes in Australia showed a strong negative correlation between testosterone levels in women and performance.”

“Why should swimmer Michael Phelps’s low lactic acid production (which helps stave off muscle fatigue) or the late NBA player Manute Bol’s uncommon height be rewarded while Semenya’s somewhat higher testosterone level is disqualifying?”

—Grace Huckins, 2021

Other controversies should be noted here: the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned IBA from overseeing the olympic box competitions in Paris 2024. According to The Guardian, the decision was made “because of long-running questions surrounding governance issues and a series of judging scandals.”

In April 2023, Brianda Cruz welcomed the IBA’s decision to disqualify Khelif. “I told you so,” Cruz said at the time.

Cruz vs Khelif happened in 2022, not 2024

Brianda Tamara Cruz Sandoval never had an Olympic match against Imane Khelif nor qualified to Paris 2024. Cruz participated in Tokyo 2020 and was eliminated on her debut, in the round of 16 by Oshae Jones (USA). Khelif ranked World 5th then.

As a matter of facts, the Cruz vs Khelif video was published on the IBA’s YouTube Channel on March 17th, 2022. It was filmed not in an Olympic Games but at that year’s GBS in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

Imane Khelif’s first combat took place on August 1st against Angela Carini. It sparkled a new debate when the Italian boxer withdrew from combat after 46 seconds. On August 2nd, Carini publicly apologized Khelif: «I was angry because my Olympic had gone up in smoke,» she said.

There’s no female trans boxers in Paris 2024

None of the boxers in female categories in Paris 2024 is a trans woman. In fact, the only trans person there was the Filipino male boxer Hergie Bacyadan.

Bacyadan (Quezon City, 1994) has not started masculinizing hormone replacement therapy, so he is still in the female category (women’s 75 kg, middleweight). Paris 2024 marked his olympic debut, where he faced and was knocked by Chinese boxer Li Qiang on Wednesday (31.07.2024).

In conclusion: Trans people cannot change their gender on official documents in Algeria, so there’s no way Imane Khelif can be a legally recognized trans woman. Additionally, no evidence has been found of Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu Ting’s alleged transition. •