File image of gold medalist Algeria’s Imane Khelif.
| Picture Credit score: AP
Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif is scheduled to return to the ring subsequent month in Paris, two years after she clinched the gold medal within the French capital amid worldwide scrutiny.
Khelif was initially set to combat in April however her bout was postponed after she injured her left shoulder whereas coaching.
Promoters stated this week that her December 15 skilled combat on the Maison de la Mutualite in Paris might be in opposition to undefeated fighter Clarida Sarabia.
“I’ve waited, I’ve doubted, however deep inside, the hearth by no means dies,” Khelif stated on Instagram in a promotional video. “And, now, I am again.”
Khelif received the Olympic gold on the 2024 Paris Video games and was within the highlight alongside Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting — one other gold medal winner — as they confronted intense scrutiny fueled by misconceptions about each boxers’ intercourse.
Each fighters have been allowed to compete by the IOC after being disqualified from the 2023 world championships by the Russian-dominated Worldwide Boxing Affiliation. The IBA claimed the ladies failed unspecified eligibility checks.
Nevertheless, the IOC utilized intercourse eligibility guidelines utilized in earlier Olympics and stated Khelif and Lin handed.
World Boxing took over as the game’s governing physique final 12 months, and it carried out a intercourse eligibility coverage requiring all fighters to take a one-time genetic take a look at designed to determine the presence of a Y chromosome. Khelif has not competed in World Boxing-sanctioned occasions because the implementation of the take a look at.
Printed – November 09, 2026 03:18 am IST
