Olympic champion Imane Khelif denies retirement from boxing

ALGIERS – Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif has denied claims made by her former manager that she has retired from the sport, saying she is still training regularly.

Algerian Khelif and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting were in the spotlight at the 2024 Paris Games over their eligibility after they had been disqualified from the 2023 world championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which said sex chromosome tests had ruled them ineligible.

However, they competed in the women’s category in Paris after being cleared by the International Olympic Committee, with both winning gold medals in their weight classes. Khelif has not competed since her win in Paris.

In an interview with French newspaper Nice-Matin on Aug 20, Khelif’s former manager Nasser Yefsah said she had “left the world of boxing”.

In a follow-up interview with the same newspaper hours later, Yefsah clarified he was referring only to Khelif’s boxing commitments in the city of Nice, where she was previously part of the Nice Azur Boxe club.

Khelif then criticised Yefsah’s comments in a post on Facebook on Aug 20.

“It is based solely on statements made by a person who no longer represents me in any way, and whom I consider to have betrayed my trust and my country with his false and malicious statements,” she wrote.

“I have never announced my retirement from boxing. I remain committed to my sporting career, training regularly and maintaining my physical fitness between Algeria and Qatar in preparation for upcoming events.

“The publication of such rumours is intended solely to disrupt and damage my sporting and professional career.”

Khelif had been due to compete in a World Boxing tournament in the Netherlands in June, but opted to skip it shortly after the governing body initially announced its plans to introduce sex testing for all boxers in its competitions.

World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst later apologised after Khelif was named in its announcement on mandatory sex testing, saying her privacy should have been protected.

Khelif, 26, has repeatedly said she was born a woman and has a long history in female boxing competitions. In March, she said she would defend her title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Meanwhile, Lin, 29, has no plans to skip September’s world championships in Liverpool, her coach Tseng Tzu-chiang said.

On Aug 20, World Boxing again announced that women boxers at the event will have to undergo mandatory sex testing.

“Lin Yu-ting just returned from training in South Korea and we are waiting for notification from the Taiwan boxing governing body for sign-up details while preparing for the 2025 boxing world championships,” Tseng said.

“She has not considered withdrawing from the competition because of the new gender tests. We will submit all the relevant documents requested by the organisers, as part of normal procedures.”

The world championships will take place from Sept 4 to 14 and is the first to be organised by World Boxing since replacing the IBA earlier in 2025.

“In a combat sport like boxing, we have a duty of care to deliver safety and competitiveness (and) fairness,” said van der Vorst.
REUTERS, AFP