Olympic Boxing Champ Gets Makeover A Year After Her Gender Was Questioned At Paris 2024

It seems Algerian boxing champ Imane Khelif is sick and tired with the allegations questioning her gender.

On Tuesday (Aug 19), the 26-year-old Olympic gold medallist unveiled her new feminine look on Instagram alongside host and podcaster Nassima Djaffar Bey.

She sported long, flowing locks and a face full of make-up. Though we wonder if a makeover is enough to convince her trolls.

Or would anyone have had a thing to say about her Olympic gold if she looked like this?

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Imane and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yuting faced scrutiny over misconceptions about their gender.

Just last week on the first anniversary of her Olympic win, Imane posted a cryptic message on Instagram, saying that while she was going through a “difficult phase”,  the “spirit that fought for gold still beats within” her.

She also thanked everyone who still believed in her and prided herself for never giving up.

Imane has always stood her ground and repeatedly said she was born a woman, despite calls for her to be stripped of her Olympic title.

Her new look comes hot on the heels of news from governing body, World Boxing, that women boxers at next month’s world championships (Sep 4 to 14) will have to undergo mandatory sex testing, as part of a new eligibility policy.

Imane, who has not competed since Paris, had been due to compete in a World Boxing tournament in the Netherlands in June 2025.

But she skipped it shortly after the sex testing plans were announced.

World Boxing, which will oversee boxing competitions in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, has been granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), announced the plans in May.

Women boxers will undergo PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests using a nasal or mouth swab, saliva or blood, to check for the presence of the Y chromosome, World Boxing added. Men have an X and Y chromosome, while women have two X chromosomes.

Imane has also denied claims made by her former manager that she has retired.

“It is based solely on statements made by a person who no longer represents me in any way, and whom I consider having betrayed my trust and my country with his false and malicious statements,” she wrote on Facebook.

In March this year, she said she is looking to defend her title at the 2028 Olympics.

Photos: IB Times