Boxer Imane Khelif's father expresses support amid Olympic controversy

The father of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif says he's proud of his daughter, offering proof that doubts about her eligibility to compete are unfounded.

Khelif, one of two female Olympic boxers disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing gender eligibility tests, won her first bout in the women's 66kg division at the Paris Olympics when her Italian opponent stopped fighting 46 seconds into the opening round.

"Having such a daughter is an honor because she is a champion, she honored me and I encourage her and I hope she will get the medal in Paris," Amar Khelif said in an interview with Reuters from his home in Tiaret, Algeria.

"Imane is a little girl that has loved sport since she was 6 years old."

What is the Paris Olympic boxing controversy all about?

The controversy has been fueled by the International Boxing Association, which claims that Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan failed undisclosed gender eligibility tests at last year's world championships, a move that International Olympic Committee has called a “sudden and arbitrary decision."

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The IBA, long mired in scandal and controversy, oversaw Olympic boxing before being stripped of its authority prior to the Tokyo Games in 2021 and is no longer recognized as the international governing body of boxing.

The IOC, which states that athletes should only be excluded from women's competition if there are clear fairness or safety issues, has defended its decision to allow Khelif to compete. (Both boxers competed in the Tokyo Olympics, but did not medal.)

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Who is Imane Khelif?

Khelif reportedly has differences of sex development, known as DSDs – a set of rare conditions involving genes, hormones and reproductive organs that can cause the sexual development of a person to be different than others. Sometimes, this can lead to a person having XY chromosomes but develop otherwise female.

In the Reuters interview, Khelif's father presented an official-looking document resembling a birth certificate.

"This is our family official document. May 2, 1999. Imane Khelif, female," he said. "It is written here. You can read it, this document doesn't lie."

After her initial win in Paris, Khelif defeated Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori on Saturday to clinch at least a bronze medal in the women's welterweight quarterfinals.

Contributing: Reuters and Kinsey Crowley, Josh Peter, USA TODAY