Polarizing boxer Imane Khelif provided context on her biological makeup after becoming the central figure in a debate about transgender athletes during the 2024 Olympics.
Khelif, an Algerian who won a boxing gold medal, confirmed to French outlet L’Équipe that she has a female phenotype but also the SRY gene, which is correlated with males.
She said she will undergo testing under specific conditions, if needed, for the 2028 Games.
“Yes, and it’s natural,” Khelif told the publication. “I have female hormones. And people don’t know it, but I’ve already lowered my testosterone levels for competitions. I’m surrounded by doctors, a teacher is following me, and I’ve taken hormonal treatments to lower my testosterone levels.
“For the qualifying tournament at the Paris Games, which was held in Dakar, I lowered my testosterone level to zero. And I won the gold medal there.”
Khelif’s details come after the World Boxing Organization announced in 2025 it would have mandatory sex testing for all competitions and mentioned her specifically by name.
She has since withdrawn from World Boxing events, per CNN.
“When they published my name, they caused another crisis for me,” Khelif told the publication of that moment. “They caused more discourse and another campaign against me.”
There are questions surrounding whether there will be new guidelines for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles regarding sex testing, with Khelif planning to participate in the Games.
The IOC released in 2021 its framework on “fairness, inclusion and non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex variations.”
It includes notes on how no athlete should be prevented from participating based on an alleged competitive advantage and evidence is needed to prove such claims.
New IOC president Kirsty Coventry indicated there is support for revamping testing regulations.
“We understand that there’ll be differences depending on the sport… but it was very clear from the members that we have to protect the female category, first and foremost to ensure fairness,” she said in a June 2025 article from BBC.
Khelif told CNN she will undergo testing to allow her to defend her Olympic title, provided its conducted by the International Olympics Committee (IOC).
“Of course, I would accept doing anything I’m required to do to participate in competitions,” she told the outlet.
“They should protect women, but they need to pay attention that while protecting women, they shouldn’t hurt other women.”
She added to L’Équipe: “Doctors and teachers decide. We all have different genetics, all different hormone levels. I’m not a transsexual. My difference, it is natural. I’m like that. I did nothing to change the way nature did to me. That’s why I’m not afraid. For the next Games, if you have to take a test, I will submit to it. I have no problem with that. I already did this test. I contacted World Boxing, I sent them my medical record, my hormonal tests, everything. But I had no answer. I’m not hiding, I’m not refusing testing. What I don’t understand is why we want to make my story so bigger.”
Khelif became the focal figure in the transgender athletics debate two years ago.
Her Round of 16 win over Italy’s Angela Carini became a hot talking point after Carini exited the fight, later describing it as “unjust.”
While some questioned Khelif’s sex, including President Donald Trump calling her a male, the IOC said at the time there was no issue.
“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said.
Khelif insisted to CNN that she is female.
“I’m not transgender. I’m a woman. I want to live my life… Please do not exploit me in your political agendas,” she told the outlet.
She also told CNN that she has naturally elevated testosterone levels, but she has been lowering them dating back to even before the Paris 2024 games.
“I was born like this. Of course, I have hormonal differences. But I decrease my testosterone levels based on my doctor’s recommendations,” she told CNN.
“Boxing does not rely on the level of testosterone. Boxing relies on intelligence, on experience and on discipline.”
Khelif acknowledged that becoming the central person in a global debate has affected her.
“What happened during the Olympics caused me psychological trauma, for me, and for my family… But I am still here. I am still fighting. I am still boxing,” she told CNN.
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