Imane Khelif, the Olympic boxer from Algeria, moved to tears discussing the impact of Elon Musk’s “cruel” remarks against her following a significant uproar over her gender and participation in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Khelif, who was born a woman, was disqualified from the World Boxing Championships last year after failing a sex test. Despite this, she won a gold medal in the Paris Olympics in the women’s welterweight division.
During the Olympics, the 25-year-old boxer received backlash from a number of prominent individuals, including former US President Donald Trump, novelist J.K. Rowling, and tech billionaire Musk, who had reposted a remark on X that stated, “Absolutely,” implying that “men don’t belong in women’s sports.”
Imane Khelif opens up about family’s struggles amid gender row
The boxer has now spoken out against Musk, the owner of the social networking platform X, for his “cruel” remarks. Earlier, Khelif launched a complaint in France, citing Musk among other celebrities, following the barrage of abuse she received prior to her Olympic success.
In an emotional interview with Clique, Khelif recalled Musk was the first to target her during the hate campaign. She mentioned that the video that he posted was retweeted.
“I would say… you hate me but you don’t even know me. I don’t even know why you led this attack. You have been cruel to me, cruel to my family, to my mother. At that time, my mother was going to hospital every day,” she said.
Calling God her only guide, she remarked. “I am a Muslim Arabic woman and I got through this moment. I hope I will be even stronger in the future and come back even more motivated.”
Khelif admits criticism ‘hurt me a lot’
Khelif faced criticism after defeating Italian boxer Angela Carini in just 46 seconds. Following her withdrawal from the fight, Carini claimed she had never felt such force in her career.
Author J.K. Rowling of the Harry Potter series labelled Khelif a “man” who was “enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head”. At the same time, Trump shared a photo of her fight with Carini on social media, writing, “I will keep men out of women’s sports!”
Khelif admitted that she was “scared” after hearing the hurtful remarks from prominent individuals. “That hurt me a lot, I cannot describe how scared I was.”
Recalling her struggles and anxiety, she said she was impacted by the whole thing. “I can’t describe the fear I had but thank God I was able to overcome it,” she stated, thanking the people of Algeria and the Arab world for all their support and prayers.
