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Anja Stridsman, a former opponent of Imane Khelif, has called criticism of the Olympic boxer “ignorant and stupid”.
Khelif has been at the centre of a gender row at Paris 2024, having reached the welterweight gold-medal match, a year after allegedly failing a gender eligibility test.
• FOLLOW LIVE: Imane Khelif boxes for gold at Paris Olympics amid gender row
Khelif, 25, was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships due to the presence of certain chromosomes, the International Boxing Association (IBA) said on Monday (5 August). However, despite many baseless claims online, the Algerian has never identified as transgender or intersex.
In any case, Khelif’s victories in Paris – including her 46-second win over Italy Carini, who withdrew from their fight and broke down in tears – have proven controversial.
On Friday night (9 August), Khelif boxes for gold against China’s Liu Yang, and before that fight, Stridsman spoke to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about her own experience in the ring with Khelif.
Australia’s Stridsman, a 2018 Commonwealth Champion who beat Khelif on points in 2019, said: “I do remember people saying to me: ‘Oh, she looks like a bloke,’ you know? ‘You’re fighting a bloke,’ which I think is quite ignorant and stupid.
“I remember not being very impressed with her, thinking that she wasn’t using her reach, you know? She didn’t have a good jab,” Stridsman said, before adding that Khelif has improved since they fought.
Per the Daily Mail, reporting from Australia, Stridsman also said: “She wasn’t particularly strong. Perhaps a bit angry, but people get into this sport for different reasons.
“I remember people commenting to me, ‘Surely she’s a man,’ and, ‘Good on you for beating a man,’ and it angered me.”
Stridsman is not the only former opponent of Khelif to address the Algerian’s place in the sport. Amy Broadhurst, who beat Khelif at the 2022 World Championships, said: “Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat’. I think it’s the way she was born and that’s out of her control. The fact that she has been [beaten] by nine females before says it all.”
The IBA, which disqualified Khelif at the 2023 World Championships, no longer oversees boxing at the Olympics.
The organisation was dropped by the International Olympic Committee before Tokyo 2021, due to fears of corruption and concerns over the body’s finances and links to Russia.
