Explainer-Who is Algerian boxer Imane Khelif?

PARIS : Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has been at the centre of a debate about gender in sport after her Italian opponent pulled out of their bout less than a minute into the contest.

Khelif failed unspecified International Boxing Association gender eligibility tests in 2023. The International Olympic Committee says she has the right to compete as a woman.

Here's what you need to know about Khelif and the row she has found herself embroiled in. 

WHO IS IMANE KHELIF?

Khelif, born in 1999, grew up playing soccer in her rural village in Tiaret, western Algeria. Now an ambassador for UNICEF, she previously told the U.N. children's agency that it had been ducking the punches of local boys that got her into boxing aged 16. 

Training was not easy. With her father working as a welder in the desert, she would sell scrap metal and her mother's couscous to raise the bus fare for the 10 km (6 mile) ride to the nearest gym.

"It’s being able to overcome the obstacles in my life," she is quoted as saying in her UNICEF biography when asked what makes her most proud.  

HOW HAS KHELIF'S CAREER PROGRESSED TO DATE?

Khelif swiftly caught the attention of the Algerian boxing federation and she competed at the 2018 women's World Championships, where she came 17th after being eliminated in the first round.

She represented Algeria at the Tokyo Olympics where she was defeated by Ireland's Kellie Harrington in the quarter-finals. In 2022, Khelif secured a second-place finish in the women's World Championships after losing to Ireland's Amy Broadhurst.

In 2023, hours before she was due to box for gold at the World Championships in Delhi, Khelif was disqualified for failing to meet International Boxing Association eligibility criteria.

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