Olympic boxer Imane Khelif said the wave of hatred she faced because of misconceptions about her gender was “damaging to human dignity” and called for an end to the bullying of athletes hit hard by the international reaction to her performance.
The Algerian athlete spoke about her tumultuous Olympic experience Sunday night in an interview with SNTV, the sports video partner of The Associated Press. Khelif said in Arabic:
“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects. It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”
The victories of Khelif and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan in the ring in Paris were one of the most high-profile stories of the Paris Games. Both women won their first Olympic medals despite facing online abuse based on unsubstantiated claims about their gender, drawing them into a wider controversy over changing attitudes to gender identity and rules in sport.
Khelif, 25, admitted she has had to go through the ordeal of competing away from home at the most important competition of her sporting career. She said:
“I am in contact with my family two days a week. I hope that they weren’t affected deeply. They are worried about me. God willing, this crisis will culminate in a gold medal, and that would be the best response.”
The fury stems from claims by the International Boxing Association, which has permanently banned her from the Olympics, that Khelif and Lin failed unspecified tests for women’s eligibility at last year’s world championships.
Khelif declined to answer a question about whether she had undergone tests other than doping tests, saying she did not want to talk about it.
She expressed gratitude to the International Olympic Committee and its president Thomas Bach for standing firmly by her side while the banned former Olympic boxing governing body fuelled the furore surrounding her participation in Paris.
Khelif began her Olympic start last Thursday with a win over Italy’s Angela Carini, who stopped the bout after just 46 seconds. Carini later said she regretted her decision and wanted to apologise to Khelif.
The unusual ending raised a stir around Khelif, prompting comments from former US President Donald Trump, “Harry Potter” writer J.K. Rowling and others falsely claiming Khelif is male or transgender.
The IOC has repeatedly said she and Lin are eligible to compete in the Olympics and has condemned the murky testing standards and opaque governance of the IBA, which was completely excluded from the Olympics last year in an unprecedented punishment for the governing body.
Khelif has clearly felt the brunt of the worldwide attention and her victory over Hamori on Saturday appeared to be cathartic. After the referee raised Khelif’s hand, scoring the win, she walked to the centre of the ring, waved to the fans, knelt down and slammed her palm on the canvas, and her smile was replaced by tears. Khelif said in the interview:
“I couldn’t control my nerves. Because after the media frenzy and after the victory, there was a mix of joy and at the same time, I was greatly affected, because honestly, it wasn’t an easy thing to go through at all. It was something that harms human dignity.”
She competed in IBA events for several years without any problems until she was unexpectedly suspended from last year’s world championships. The organisation, which has been in conflict with the IOC for years, refused to provide any information about the tests.
Algeria’s national boxing federation is still a member of the IBA.
Some say that the rights of each athlete are most important. Others insist that there is a more important collective right – the right of female athletes to play women’s sport exclusively and to be free from discrimination.
In recent years, most notably at the World Aquatics Championships, recommendations have emerged among a number of international sports federations stating that athletes with developmental disabilities who are going through male puberty should be barred from participating in high-level women’s competition. In boxing, this issue is made even more acute by a complex political dispute between the IOC and the IBA.
Day ten of the competition
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has allowed Polish canoeist Dorota Borowska, suspended for an anti-doping rule violation, to participate in the Olympics. The banned substance may have entered her system from a dog medication, the International Doping Agency (ITA) said.
On 18 July, Borovskaya tested positive for a doping test conducted before the Olympic Games on 27 June. The sample contained a metabolite of clostebol, banned as an anabolic androgenic steroid. The athlete was suspended from participating in any national and international competitions.
During the proceedings, the 28-year-old Borowska attributed the ingestion to household contamination. The ITA said:
“Unintentional contact with a prohibited substance contained in a medication used to treat her dog’s injuries resulted in a positive doping test and, given the very low amount of the drug absorbed by the athlete, she did not receive a performance-enhancing effect.”
The US team took the first place in the medal standings of the Paris Olympics after the ninth competition day.
At the end of nine days of competition, the American team has 71 medals on its account: 19 gold, 26 silver and 26 bronze medals. China (19-15-11) is in second place, and France (12-14-8) is in third place.
On another day of the Olympics, Russian tennis players Mirra Andreeva and Diana Schnaider lost to Italy’s Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in the doubles final.
The Seine problem
One of the main questions at the Paris Olympics was whether the water quality in the River Seine was safe enough for some of the swimming events.
Bacteria levels in the river fluctuate constantly, and water samples are taken daily so that organisers can assess the risk and determine whether it is worthwhile to hold swims in the long-contaminated Parisian waterway.
Triathletes competed in the river on Wednesday and on Sunday evening organisers announced that Monday’s mixed triathlon relay will be run as planned with a swim in the Seine. Testing will continue ahead of the marathon swims scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
High levels of E. coli and enterococci indicate water contamination from sewage or faeces. Most strains are harmless, and some live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. But others can be dangerous.
Even a sip of contaminated water can lead to diarrhoea and, as a result, illnesses such as urinary tract or intestinal infections. How much a person is at risk of becoming ill from E. coli contamination depends on several factors, the main ones being age and general health.
The Belgian triathlon team withdrew from the mixed relay at the Olympic Games in Paris due to the illness of team member Claire Michel, the press service of the Belgian NOC reported.
Michele’s health problems occurred a few days after she took part in the women’s Olympic swimming event in Seine.
The NOC did not say exactly what the athlete was ill with, but said it hoped “that lessons will be learnt for future Olympic triathlon events.” It added:
“We are thinking here of guaranteed training days, competition days and competition format, which should be clarified in advance and guarantee no uncertainty for athletes, chaperones and fans.”
According to the media, Michele has been admitted to hospital with E coli.
Swiss triathletes Adrien Briffod and Simon Westermann have also withdrawn from the relay, the Swiss NOC press office said. The reason is an intestinal infection.
The athletes were also taking part in an individual swim in the Seine. However, Swiss national team chief physician Hanspeter Betschart said it was still unclear whether the infection was related to the quality of water in the Seine.
Earlier, all training swims were cancelled due to water quality in the Seine, and the open water swimming competition was also postponed.
A number of athletes complained about the unacceptable conditions of swimming in the Seine at the Olympics. In particular, Spain’s Miriam Casillas said that the organisers “did not think about the athletes’ health” and “turned the competition into a circus.”
However, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the work to clean up the Seine had been successful. He noted that after the Olympics are over, Paris residents will be able to swim in the city’s river.
On the eve of the Olympics, Paris authorities spent $1.5bn cleaning up the Seine, and President Macron has even promised to swim in the river, although he has not yet done so.
