<figure id="attachment_3275095" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3275095" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3275095" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/63114782-imane-khelif.jpg" alt="Imane Khelif" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3275095" class="wp-caption-text">Algerian Imane Khelif was embroiled in a gender row at the Paris Games where she won gold in the women&#8217;s 66kg category. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
PARIS: Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif revealed in an interview with French sports daily L&#8217;Equipe that she had undergone hormone treatments to lower her testosterone levels ahead of the 2024 Games, but reaffirmed that she is not &#8220;transgender&#8221;.
Khelif was embroiled in a gender row at the Paris Games where she won gold in the women&#8217;s 66kg category.
&#8220;I have female hormones. And people don&#8217;t know this, but I have taken hormone treatments to lower my testosterone levels for competitions,&#8221; the 26-year-old Algerian said in the interview published Wednesday.
Khelif confirmed she has the SRY gene, located on the Y chromosome that indicates masculinity.
&#8220;Yes, and it&#8217;s natural,&#8221; she said, adding that she is &#8220;surrounded by doctors, a professor is monitoring me&#8230; For the Paris Games qualifying tournament, which took place in Dakar, I lowered my testosterone levels to zero&#8221;.
Like Taiwan&#8217;s Lin Yu-ting, who also won gold in another category at the Paris Games, Khelif found herself at the centre of a gender row that attracted comments from US President Donald Trump and &#8220;Harry Potter&#8221; author JK Rowling.
&#8220;I respect everyone, and I respect Trump. Because he is the President of the United States. But he cannot distort the truth. I am not a trans woman, I am a girl. I was raised as a girl, I grew up as a girl, the people in my village have always known me as a girl,&#8221; Khelif said.
The boxer, who aims to compete in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, knows that she will have to agree to mandatory gender testing imposed by World Boxing, a body recognised by the International Olympic Committee, and says she is ready.
&#8220;For the next Games, if I have to take a test, I will. I have no problem with that,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve already taken this test. I contacted World Boxing, I sent them my medical records, my hormone tests, everything. But I haven&#8217;t had any response. I&#8217;m not hiding, I&#8217;m not refusing the tests.&#8221;
Khelif said it was for doctors and professors to &#8220;decide&#8221;, but stated: &#8220;We all have different genetics, different hormone levels. I&#8217;m not transgender. My difference is natural. This is who I am. I haven&#8217;t done anything to change the way nature made me. That&#8217;s why I&#8217;m not afraid.&#8221;
Khelif, who has not fought since the Paris Games, as World Boxing prevented her from participating in last year&#8217;s tournament in the Netherlands because she had not undergone the newly introduced chromosome test, revealed she is awaiting a French professional boxing licence.
She said for her, it was &#8220;the logical next step&#8221;, but added that did not mean she was giving up on competing in two year&#8217;s time in LA.
&#8220;Not at all. I want to&#8230; become the first person in Algerian sport to successfully defend their Olympic title,&#8221; she said.

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