Algerian boxer Khelif ‘not intimidated’ by Trump as she targets second Olympic gold in LA

LONDON: Algerian Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif, at the center of a gender row at the Paris Games, is targeting a second gold in Los Angeles and says she will not be intimidated by Donald Trump.
The US president last month signed an executive order barring transgender women from competing in the female categories of sports.
Trump had previously said the 25-year-old fighter had transitioned from being a man, even though that is not the case.
“I will give you a straightforward answer — the US president issued a decision related to transgender policies in America,” she told Britain’s ITV News.
“I am not transgender. This does not concern me, and it does not intimidate me.

That is my response.”
Olympic chiefs earlier this week recommended that boxing be included at the 2028 Games in LA after a new governing body was provisionally recognized.
The decision still needs to be rubber-stamped by a full session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this week in Greece.
“Second gold medal, of course,” said Khelif. “In America, Los Angeles.”
She added: “This experience has taught me a lot.

I believe that if the old Imane operated at 50 percent of her potential, then the Imane Khalif of today is even more motivated and determined.
“I have learned so much from this campaign against me, and what happened at the Paris Olympics was an eye-opening experience. I feel even stronger now than I was before.”
Khelif’s triumph in Paris, along with that of Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, sparked a raging gender eligibility debate, with high-profile figures such as Trump and Elon Musk weighing in.
She revealed she was “deeply affected mentally” by the “major media campaign” surrounding her, and said her mother was attending hospital almost