Algerian boxer Imane Khelif confirmed he has a Y chromosome, indicating he is biologically male. In a new interview with the French sports outlet L’Équipe, Khelif also admitted to having elevated testosterone levels, which, as he claims, he medically suppressed under a doctor’s supervision.
Khelif has been the subject of intense controversy since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, after it was revealed that he had previously been disqualified at the Women’s World Boxing Championships organized by the International Boxing Association (IBA) following a so-called “sex test.” Despite this, Khelif competed at the Games alongside women and, unsurprisingly, won gold, clearly overpowering the more physically slight female competitors.
Leaked medical reports. Interview with L’Équipe
Since then, a number of leaked medical reports have been published indicating that Khelif has a disorder of sex development and is biologically male. One report, prepared in June 2023 in cooperation between the Kremlin-Bicêtre Hospital in Paris and the Mohamed Lamine Debaghine Hospital in Algiers, revealed that Khelif suffers from a disorder of sex development that occurs exclusively in biological males.
Genetic abnormalities of this kind affect the proper development of a child’s sexual organs. At birth, boys with this condition are often incorrectly assigned female sex due to the presence of deformed genitalia. This atypical development usually becomes apparent during puberty, when adolescents with the condition begin to experience increased muscle mass, significant body hair growth, and a lack of breast development or menstruation.
In Khelif’s case, new test results emerged in 2025, once again confirming that Khelif has a male karyotype.
Khelif has now admitted, for the first time, to having XY chromosomes in a new interview with L’Équipe. In the interview, Khelif confirmed that he possesses the SRY gene carried on the Y chromosome.
Despite this, Khelif also explained that he is not a transgender person and pointed to his upbringing “as a girl,” saying: “I am not a transgender woman, I am a girl. I was raised as a girl, I grew up as a girl, people in my village always knew me as a girl.”
Khelif wants to fight women again in 2028
As previously reported by Reduxx, Imane Khelif’s coach had earlier noted that the boxer was extremely shocked by the results of the 2023 karyotype test following the disqualification by the International Boxing Federation.
In an interview with Le Point in 2024, Georges Cazorla spoke about Khelif’s distress after being disqualified from the World Championships. Meanwhile, in the interview with L’Équipe, Khelif expressed optimism about his career and stated that he intends to defend his Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 2028.