Imane Khelif, the Olympic gold medal-winning boxer at the heart of a gender eligibility storm, has filed a legal case against ‘misogynistic, racist and sexist’ cyber bullying, claiming she has been the victim of a ‘digital lynching’.
Khelif claimed the women’s 66kg title on Friday night despite widespread anger at her being allowed to compete in Paris after failing a sex test last year.
The Algerian has repeatedly insisted she is a woman and suggested her Olympic gold had a “special taste” because of the attacks she has faced.
However, her lawyer released a statement on Saturday night confirming Khelif had now taken criminal action against those who have abused her online.
“Mrs Khelif contacted the firm, which filed a complaint yesterday for aggravated cyber harassment with the online hate centre of the Paris prosecutor’s office,” said Nabil Boudi.
“The criminal investigation will determine who initiated this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign, but will also have to focus on those who fueled this digital lynching. The unfair harassment suffered by the boxing champion will remain the biggest stain of these Olympic Games.”
Following her victory in the Olympic final, Khelif said she hoped her negative experience outside of the ring in Paris would not be repeated by other athletes at future Olympic Games.
“My message to the whole world is that they should commit to Olympic principles and avoid bullying,” she said. “They should not bully people.
“We are in the Olympics to perform as athletes and perform to our audience and families. I hope that we will not see any similar attacks at future Olympics.”
Khelif was due to compete in last year’s World Championships final only to be disqualified from the competition when the International Boxing Association (IBA) announced she had failed a sex test. The IBA has since been stripped of its rights to govern global boxing.
The International Olympic Committee has acknowledged it was warned in writing more than a year ago that Khelif had the DNA of a “male”. But it has disputed the validity of the tests conducted by the IBA on the Algerian, suggesting they were not reliable.
She was one of two boxers allowed to compete in Paris despite failing those tests. The other, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting, also claimed gold when she won the 57kg crown on Saturday night.
Asked whether she would follow Khelif’s lead in taking legal action, Lin, who has also insisted she is a woman, said: “This is something that I will discuss with my team, so we will decide later what will be the next step.”
