Charlotte Foster
Legal

"I am a woman": Boxer launches legal action after gold medal win

Imane Khelif has filed an official complaint over online bullying and harassment she has been subject to throughout the course of the Paris Olympics.

The Algerian boxer, who took home the gold medal in the women's competition, has been at the centre of a wave of abuse over her gender, with misinformation circulating over her gender. 

According to Khelif's lawyer Nabil Boudi, the gold medallist has filed a legal complaint in France for online harassment.

“The boxer Imane Khelif has decided to begin a new fight, a fight for justice, dignity and honour,” Boudi said in a statement, saying Khelif had filed the complaint for “aggravated online harassment … to Paris prosecutors”.

He added, “The investigation will determine who was behind this misogynist, racist and sexist campaign, but will also have to concern itself with those who fed the online lynching.”

The “iniquitous harassment” the boxing champion had been subjected to would remain “the biggest stain on these Olympic Games”, said Boudi.

On Saturday, Khelif emerged victorious in the women’s 66kg final against China’s Yang Liu in a unanimous points decision, having been the focus of intense scrutiny in the French capital for the duration of the Games. 

After her victory, Khelif said the gold medal she had won was the best response to her critics.

Asked by reporters about the row over her eligibility, she said, “I am fully qualified to take part, I am a woman like any other. I was born a woman, lived a woman and competed as a woman.”

Image credits: Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/Shutterstock Editorial 

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legal, Imane Khelif, complaint, Paris, Olympics