Olympic gold medal halt. Khelif, no World Championships. Iba stops boxer: “High testosterone“

The International Boxing Association (IBA) has announced the exclusion of the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif (in the photo) from the next Women's World Boxing Championships, scheduled to take place in Niš, Serbia, from 8 to 16 March 2025. The decision is motivated by the fact that Khelif "does not meet the eligibility criteria", in particular due to levels of testosterone considered too high.

This is not the first time that the IBA has taken such a decision against the Algerian athlete. In 2023, Khelif was already excluded from the World Championships for similar reasons. However, in 2024, the International Olympic Committee allowed her to participate in the Paris Olympics, where Khelif won the gold medal in the -66 kg category. The IOC considered the IBA tests to be "flawed and illegitimate", thus allowing the athlete to compete.

The athlete has always declared that she was born a woman and that she has lived her whole life as such, but this position was not enough to avoid a new exclusion. The ifa decision has also reignited the debate about fairness in women's sports competition and the management of athletes with sex-variant characteristics. While some sports organizations are adopting more inclusive criteria, others maintain rigorous standards, raising ethical and scientific questions about the participation of athletes with hyperandrogenism.