Olympic champion boxer Imane Khelif showed off her dramatic feminine makeover as she was given a significant honour by Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
The fighter, 25, found herself embroiled in a fierce gender eligibility dispute this summer after being cleared to fight against women at the Games, despite being banned from last year’s World Championships for allegedly failing a gender test.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed her to compete in Paris after severing ties with the International Boxing Association (IBA) – which claims Khelif is a ‘biological male’ after disqualifying her from the Worlds.
And the fighter spectacularly sealed gold with victory over China’s Yang Liu in the women’s 66kg event having not lost a single round throughout the tournament.
Khelif’s rise to stardom continued yesterday as she made a trip to the presidential palace to see Mr Tebboune who bestowed the rank of major upon her.
Olympic champion boxer Imane Khelif showed off her dramatic feminine makeover as she was given a significant honour by Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune
The fighter, 25, found herself embroiled in the fierce dispute this summer after being cleared to fight against women at the Games
She was joined at the leader’s grand home in Algiers by fellow Algerian Olympic champions Kaylia Nemour and Djamel Sedjati
She was joined at the leader’s grand home in Algiers by fellow Algerian Olympic champions Kaylia Nemour and Djamel Sedjati where the trio were all handed commemorative medals.
The boxer posted pictures of herself chatting with the president on Instagram with the caption: ‘Today, I had the honor of being honored by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, with a medal of the rank of Major from the National Merit Class.’
It was the second medal Khelif had won in less than a week after she managed to block out the commotion surrounding her eligibility at the Games and clinch gold at a raucous Roland Garros last Friday.
She faced a raft of criticism during the Paris Olympics which has not let up since her victory over Liu and her success has prompted outcries of fury from author JK Rowling and Elon Musk on social media, while Donald Trump also taunted the Algerian fighter.
Nabil Boudi, Khelif’s Paris-based attorney, has since revealed they have now opened a lawsuit that has been filed to French authorities over comments made about her gender online.
No individuals have been named as defendants in the lawsuit but a number of well-known celebrities have been referenced for their social media posts.
Meanwhile, the fighter has been trying to block out the noise surrounding her gold medal win and yesterday she aired a dramatic feminine makeover for the first time.
In a video posted on Instagram Khelif can be seen punching towards the camera, before the screen cuts to a shot of her in a seasonal pink, floral outfit with matching hoop earrings and pink eyeliner and lip gloss.
The boxer posted pictures of herself chatting with the president on Instagram
She added: ‘Today, I had the honor of being honored by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, with a medal of the rank of Major from the National Merit Class’
Khelif can be seen laughing and chatting with the president of her country in the post
It was the second medal Khelif had won in less than a week after she managed to block out the commotion surrounding her eligibility at the Games and clinch gold
She also proudly shows off her medal and flashes a smile for the camera in the short clip uploaded on social media.
The 25-year-old Olympic champion revealed yesterday that she was ‘hurt a lot’ by intense scrutiny of her gender and questioned the intentions of those who she believes have harassed her.
‘But immediately after there was a big uproar from big politicians around the world, athletes around the world, and even artists and stars, Elon Musk, Trump.. this thing….. that affected me,’ she told El Birad.
‘I am not lying to you, it affected me. It affected me a lot, hurt me a lot.
‘I can’t describe to you the amount of fear I had.
‘The scenario was very scary. Thank god, all the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will,’ said the Algerian boxer.
‘Honestly, I don’t like to get into politics in sports, but they got into politics in sports. Sports and politics are two separate things.
‘These politicians who are oppressing me, they don’t have the right to say that I’m a transgender.’
Khelif, who is not a transgender woman, allegedly has male ‘XY chromosomes’ – a point that was scrutinised on social media by those calling for her to not be allowed to fight at the Olympics.
Khelif’s success in the women’s 66kg category at the Paris Games was wildly celebrated by Algeria, with the boxer given the honour of carrying her nation’s flag at the closing ceremony.
Imane Khelif poses for the cameras showing off her gold medal from the Paris Olympics
The clip, uploaded to social media, begins with the fighter punching towards the camera and smiling
The IOC allowed her to compete in Paris after severing ties with the IBA – which claims Khelif is a ‘biological male’ after disqualifying her from the World Championships
The fighter spectacularly sealed gold in the women’s 66kg event not losing a single round
Yesterday top promoter Eddie Hearn claimed he would consider offering the Olympic champion a contract to join his roster at Matchroom Boxing and become a professional fighter.
In response to a question about whether he would consider siging the boxer, Hearn told IFL TV: ‘Yes, if the facts were laid out and it was in a position where there is no reason why this individual shouldn’t compete as a female.
‘Yes, I would, commercially. One, she is a talented fighter. Two, commercially I think she has up to two Instagram million followers, up from 30,000, so the answer is yes.’