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Published: Feb 5, 2026
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has confirmed he has a Y chromosome, indicating he is biologically male. In a new interview with French sports outlet L’Equipe, Khelif also admitted to having elevated testosterone levels, which he says he has been medically suppressing under the supervision of a doctor.
Khelif has been the subject of extreme controversy since the 2024 Paris Olympics, after Reduxx first revealed that he had previously been disqualified by the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships after failing a sex test. The news sparked a firestorm of backlash, with the IBA coming out in opposition to the Olympic’s decision to allow biological males to box against women in Paris.
Attempting to address the controversy, the IBA held a press conference in August of 2024, repeatedly confirming that Khelif had failed multiple chromosomal tests. The IBA also revealed they had been barred from releasing the results of those tests by the Algerian Olympic Committee. It is reported that during the press conference, BBC journalists walked out in support of Khelif.
Despite the IBA’s findings, the International Olympic Committee allowed Khelif to continue boxing in the women’s 66kg category, where he ultimately took gold.
Since then, multiple leaked medical reports have been released, all of which indicate Khelif has a disorder of sexual development and is biologically male.
One leaked report, which was drafted in June of 2023 via a collaboration between the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital in Paris and the Mohamed Lamine Debaghine hospital in Algiers, revealed that Khelif is impacted by 5-alpha reductase deficiency, a disorder of sexual development that is only found in biological males.
The genetic abnormality influences the normal development of a child’s sexual organs. At birth, male babies impacted are often incorrectly assigned female due to the presence of deformed genitalia that sometimes takes on the appearance of a “blind vaginal pouch.” This disordered development typically becomes apparent by puberty, when impacted adolescents begin to experience signs of masculinization such as muscle growth, hair growth, and an absence of breast tissue development or menstruation.
In 2025, yet another test was leaked by Olympic press committee member Alan Abrahamson, confirming once again that Khelif has a male karyotype.
Khelif has now admitted to having XY chromosomes for the first time in a new interview with French sports outlet L’Equipe.
In the interview, Khelif confirmed he has the SRY gene carried on a Y chromosome. ‘SRY’ stands for Sex-determining Region of the Y, a gene that initiates typical male sexual development by triggering testes formation.
Khelif also clarified that he was not transgender and pointed to his upbringing as a ‘girl,’ stating: “I am not a trans woman, I am a girl. I was raised as a girl, I grew up as a girl, the people in my village have always known me as a girl.”
However, individuals with disorders of sexual development are not considered transgender, and without access to proper clinical examination, males with similar disorders of sexual development may incorrectly believe they are female into adulthood. Global health researchers have noted that rare developmental conditions are systematically under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed in low-resource countries – such as Khelif’s home of Algeria – for this reason.
As previously reported by Reduxx, Khelif’s coach had previously noted the boxer had been incredibly shocked by the results of his karyotype test in 2023 following his disqualification by the International Boxing Association.
In an exclusive interview with Le Point magazine in 2024, Georges Cazorla spoke of Khelif’s distress after being disqualified by the IBA, confirming that the biological tests had been carried out by the IBA that revealed that Khelif may not be female – something which appeared to blindside Khelif.
“The [disqualification] was based on tests. Frankly, I found it disgusting. Regardless of the results of these biological tests and, without going into detail – that is a matter for biologists and doctors – this poor young girl was devastated, devastated to suddenly discover that she might not be a girl,” Cazorla said.
Despite the admission by Khelif’s coach and the repeat medical record leaks confirming Khelif was biologically male, mainstream media outlets and activists continued to insist that Khelif was female and had simply been the victim of a “transphobic smear campaign” which targeted him because of his appearance.
In his interview with L’Equipe, Khelif expressed optimism about his career and insisted he intended to defend his Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 2028. But Khelif does not acknowledge that as a direct result of the controversy caused by his participation in Paris, World Boxing introduced mandatory sex testing for all boxers in its competitions last year. World Boxing is the international governing body for the sport, and is currently the IOC’s official partner federation for Olympic boxing.
Khelif has filed a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against World Boxing for its sex testing policy, but has said he would be willing to submit to sex testing “only if it is administered by the IOC.”
At this time, it is unclear if Khelif or the Algerian Olympic Committee have reached a quiet agreement with the IOC regarding his participation—possibly securing an exception that would allow athletes with disorders of sexual development to compete in their self-identified category. However, this is currently just speculation and no formal announcement of such an accommodation has been made.
As it stands, World Boxing’s policy explicitly restricts participation in the women’s category to biological females and, in November of 2025, the International Olympic Committee hinted that it would be adopting a similar policy intended to prevent males from participating in the women’s category in 2026.
While Khelif communicated that he was confident he will pass a sex test, he has previously exited competitions which required him to do so. He has also withdrawn Court of Arbitration for Sport appeals which would have likely required him to undergo a sex test to demonstrate his claims that he is biologically female.
Note from OP: Here's the French interview: https://www.lequipe.fr/Boxe/Article...r-la-maniere-dont-la-nature-m-a-faite/1639368
https://archive.ph/PXW4z
Published: Feb 5, 2026
Algerian Olympic Boxer Imane Khelif Admits To Having Male Sex Chromosome For The First Time
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has confirmed he has a Y chromosome, indicating he is biologically male. In a new interview with French sports outlet L’Equipe, Khelif also admitted to having elevated testosterone levels, which he says he has been medically suppressing under the supervision of a doctor.
Khelif has been the subject of extreme controversy since the 2024 Paris Olympics, after Reduxx first revealed that he had previously been disqualified by the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships after failing a sex test. The news sparked a firestorm of backlash, with the IBA coming out in opposition to the Olympic’s decision to allow biological males to box against women in Paris.
Attempting to address the controversy, the IBA held a press conference in August of 2024, repeatedly confirming that Khelif had failed multiple chromosomal tests. The IBA also revealed they had been barred from releasing the results of those tests by the Algerian Olympic Committee. It is reported that during the press conference, BBC journalists walked out in support of Khelif.
Despite the IBA’s findings, the International Olympic Committee allowed Khelif to continue boxing in the women’s 66kg category, where he ultimately took gold.
Since then, multiple leaked medical reports have been released, all of which indicate Khelif has a disorder of sexual development and is biologically male.
One leaked report, which was drafted in June of 2023 via a collaboration between the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital in Paris and the Mohamed Lamine Debaghine hospital in Algiers, revealed that Khelif is impacted by 5-alpha reductase deficiency, a disorder of sexual development that is only found in biological males.
The genetic abnormality influences the normal development of a child’s sexual organs. At birth, male babies impacted are often incorrectly assigned female due to the presence of deformed genitalia that sometimes takes on the appearance of a “blind vaginal pouch.” This disordered development typically becomes apparent by puberty, when impacted adolescents begin to experience signs of masculinization such as muscle growth, hair growth, and an absence of breast tissue development or menstruation.
In 2025, yet another test was leaked by Olympic press committee member Alan Abrahamson, confirming once again that Khelif has a male karyotype.
Khelif has now admitted to having XY chromosomes for the first time in a new interview with French sports outlet L’Equipe.
In the interview, Khelif confirmed he has the SRY gene carried on a Y chromosome. ‘SRY’ stands for Sex-determining Region of the Y, a gene that initiates typical male sexual development by triggering testes formation.
Khelif also clarified that he was not transgender and pointed to his upbringing as a ‘girl,’ stating: “I am not a trans woman, I am a girl. I was raised as a girl, I grew up as a girl, the people in my village have always known me as a girl.”
However, individuals with disorders of sexual development are not considered transgender, and without access to proper clinical examination, males with similar disorders of sexual development may incorrectly believe they are female into adulthood. Global health researchers have noted that rare developmental conditions are systematically under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed in low-resource countries – such as Khelif’s home of Algeria – for this reason.
As previously reported by Reduxx, Khelif’s coach had previously noted the boxer had been incredibly shocked by the results of his karyotype test in 2023 following his disqualification by the International Boxing Association.
In an exclusive interview with Le Point magazine in 2024, Georges Cazorla spoke of Khelif’s distress after being disqualified by the IBA, confirming that the biological tests had been carried out by the IBA that revealed that Khelif may not be female – something which appeared to blindside Khelif.
“The [disqualification] was based on tests. Frankly, I found it disgusting. Regardless of the results of these biological tests and, without going into detail – that is a matter for biologists and doctors – this poor young girl was devastated, devastated to suddenly discover that she might not be a girl,” Cazorla said.
Despite the admission by Khelif’s coach and the repeat medical record leaks confirming Khelif was biologically male, mainstream media outlets and activists continued to insist that Khelif was female and had simply been the victim of a “transphobic smear campaign” which targeted him because of his appearance.
In his interview with L’Equipe, Khelif expressed optimism about his career and insisted he intended to defend his Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 2028. But Khelif does not acknowledge that as a direct result of the controversy caused by his participation in Paris, World Boxing introduced mandatory sex testing for all boxers in its competitions last year. World Boxing is the international governing body for the sport, and is currently the IOC’s official partner federation for Olympic boxing.
Khelif has filed a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against World Boxing for its sex testing policy, but has said he would be willing to submit to sex testing “only if it is administered by the IOC.”
At this time, it is unclear if Khelif or the Algerian Olympic Committee have reached a quiet agreement with the IOC regarding his participation—possibly securing an exception that would allow athletes with disorders of sexual development to compete in their self-identified category. However, this is currently just speculation and no formal announcement of such an accommodation has been made.
As it stands, World Boxing’s policy explicitly restricts participation in the women’s category to biological females and, in November of 2025, the International Olympic Committee hinted that it would be adopting a similar policy intended to prevent males from participating in the women’s category in 2026.
While Khelif communicated that he was confident he will pass a sex test, he has previously exited competitions which required him to do so. He has also withdrawn Court of Arbitration for Sport appeals which would have likely required him to undergo a sex test to demonstrate his claims that he is biologically female.
Note from OP: Here's the French interview: https://www.lequipe.fr/Boxe/Article...r-la-maniere-dont-la-nature-m-a-faite/1639368
https://archive.ph/PXW4z
