Brutal fight footage has emerged of the boxer who has been cleared to compete in women’s Olympics events despite previously failing gender tests.
Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan were banned from the world championships in India last year after tests proved ‘they had XY chromosomes’, raising questions over their biological sex.
The fighters have been cleared to compete in Paris by the International Olympic Committee, however, with double Olympian and current world champion Claressa Shields among those condemning the developments and demanding greater protection for female fighters.
Follow Metro.co.uk’s live blog for updates from the Paris 2024 Olympics
Khelif is in action on Thursday against Italy’s Angela Carini in their women’s welterweight bout.
Footage of the Algerian fighting Mexican woman Brianda Tamara in December 2022 has now emerged on social media.
The video shows Khelif landing a vicious flurry of shots on a dazed Tamara, repeatedly sending the Mexican into the ropes. Their fight was stopped in the third round.
Recalling the fight, Tamara said: “When I fought her I felt very out of my depth. Her blows hurt me a lot.
‘Thank God that day I got out of the ring safely, and it’s good that they finally realised.’
Claressa Shields slams Olympic boxing decision
Scrutiny over the presence of Khelif and Lin in the women’s categories has intensified ahead of their opening matches with some of the biggest names in women’s boxing now coming forward.
Shields is the USA’s most successful Olympic boxer having won gold in both the 2012 and 2016 games.
She has gone onto make more history in the professional ranks, having won world titles in five different weight classes, ruling as undisputed in two of them.
In a post shared on X, the American described the situation as ‘heartbreaking’, insisting she would not have stood for ‘stuff like that’.
‘So they got men fighting against women in the Olympics boxing! I wouldn’t have stood for no stuff like that! That is so heartbreaking to the women who have to have their dreams ruined by a man. Sad asf!’
Khelif and Lin were barred from competing in the world championships by the International Boxing Association [IBA]. However, the IBA are not overseeing this summer’s Olympic events with the IOC allowing both fighters to compete, insisting the are ‘complying with the competition eligibility rules’ and possess female passports.
Khelif was disqualified from the event last year just hours before her gold medal fight against Chinese opponent Yang Liu due to ‘her elevated levels of testosterone [which] failed to meet the eligibility criteria’.
The Algerian Olympic Committee insisted Khelif was disqualified for ‘medical with the fighter claiming: ‘There are some countries that did not want Algeria to win a gold medal. This is a conspiracy, a big conspiracy, and we will not be silent about it.’
MORE : Olympics 2024 host Clare Balding blasted for ‘toxic’ remarks after Ireland’s historic win
MORE : What is PRK at the Olympics? North Korea country code explained
MORE : Ireland rugby star shows superhuman strength to save team-mate from certain injury at Paris Olympics
Share your story or advertise with us: Whatsapp: +2347068606071 Email: info@newspotng.com
