Fighter who confronted Imane Khelif claims gender row star had ‘male energy’

A former training opponent of Olympic gold medal boxer Imane Khelif has labelled the Algerian ‘a man’ and bizarrely suggested she has been ‘biologically altered’ by living in the mountains.

The claim comes in the wake of the Games in Paris where Khelif, and Taiwan‘s Lin Yu-Ting, both won Olympic gold in boxing while being subjected to huge global scrutiny over their eligibility due to their gender.

Now, Bulgarian-Nigerian women’s boxer Joana Nwamerue has labelled Khelif a ‘man’ and explained how during a sparring session in February, she witnessed the Olympic champion’s ‘male power and male techniques’.

‘[Khelif] has some kind of internal issues. But he is a man. I will stay [by] my words until he/she does a test to prove to the world that he/she is a woman. But we all know that won’t happen,’ Nwamerue told Reduxx.

‘I think we played 3-4 sparring sessions. I have a record of everything. I can confirm that this is a man to me. Male power. Men’s techniques, everything,’ she added.

A former training opponent of Olympic gold medal boxer Imane Khelif has labelled the Algerian as ‘a man’

Khelif won gold at the Paris Olympics but faced controversy over her eligibility to compete

Bulgarian-Nigerian women’s boxer Joana Nwamerue (pictured) has labelled Khelif as a ‘man’

Nwamerue claimed she was told that Khelif has been ‘biologically altered’ by living in the mountain ranges of Algeria by her coaching team.

Nwamerue added: ‘[Khelif’s] teammates came to me and told me ‘Imane is not a man. 

‘She is a woman and just lives high in the mountains with her relatives and parents and so there may be a change in her testosterone or chromosomes and the like.’ 

Khelif was born female and is not transgender. She was banned last year after The International Boxing Association (IBA) carried out medical tests which said she had high levels of testosterone in her system. 

She had previously competed without issues and was disqualified by the sport’s governing body only after she defeated Russian boxer Azalia Amineva in the 2023 tournament. 

The IBA is controlled by Umar Kremlev, who is Russian and brought in the state-owned energy supplier Gazprom as its primary sponsor and moved much of the governing body’s operations to Russia.

The debate throughout the Games around Khelif’s participation was not lost on the athlete herself. She was moved to tears after winning her quarterfinal match and hit back at her critics once she had the gold medal around her neck.

‘For eight years, this has been my dream, and I’m now the Olympic champion and gold medalist,’ Khelif said Friday.

The 25-year-old faced multiple questions on her status in the boxing gender row at the Games

Taiwan ‘s Lin Yu-Ting (left) also faced controversy over her eligibility at the Olympics

‘That also gives my success a special taste because of those attacks. We are in the Olympics to perform as athletes, and I hope that we will not see any similar attacks in future Olympics.

‘I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born as a woman, I live as a woman, and I am qualified.’

Khelif was given a heroes welcome in Algeria on Monday as she returned home from France with her gold medal. She was met at the Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers by hundreds of fans to celebrate the success.

Over the weekend, though, Khelif was taunted by Donald Trump as he gave a speech at a rally in Montana.

‘Who wants men to participate in women’s sports? I would like to congratulate the young woman who has evolved from a man to a woman. He… She won gold,’ Trump said. 

‘What about the woman, the beautiful woman, from Italy? She went in there and had no idea what was going on. She’s a very good boxer – but only against other women.’

Khelif celebrates winning gold at the Paris Olympics after facing intense scrutiny in France

He was referring to Angela Carini, who quit 46 seconds into her fight with Khelif last week after being struck on the nose. She was in tears and said she had never been hit so hard before. 

Trump acted out the punch and then said: ‘He did this. She immediately, wow, nobody has ever hit me that hard.

‘Then he does it again and she immediately gives up.’