Imane Khelif has a “162 per cent advantage” going into her Olympic gold medal clash on Friday, according to former GB marathon runner Mara Yamauchi.
She spoke to GB News about the ongoing controversy surrounding the Algerian boxer who was disqualified from last year’s World Championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) after she was reported to have failed gender eligibility tests.
The IOC (International Olympic Committee), which suspended the IBA in 2019 because of concerns over its finances, governance, ethics, refereeing and judging, said on Saturday there was “never any doubt” Khelif is a woman.
But Yamauchi argued on GB News that Khelif is enjoying the physical capabilities of a male, which means she should not be allowed to compete.
Yamauchi thinks it’s ‘disgraceful’ that Khelif can compete
GB NEWS
“It’s self evident that males have massive advantages compared to females, in boxing it’s 162 per cent”, she said.
“This is completely unfair and unsafe. Khelif will get at least a silver. It’s absolutely appalling.
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Imane Khelif has been permitted to take part in the Paris Olympics despite controversy surrounding her involvementGETTY“We think these are DSDs, mistakenly identified as female at birth and therefore have female ID documents.
“It’s absolutely ludicrous.”
Differences in sex development – also known as DSD – are a group of about 40 rare conditions which means a person’s sex development is different than normal.
Khelif is yet to comment publicly about the condition and there has been no indication to suggest she has it, which is a rare condition affecting between 0.05 and one per cent of the population.
Yamauchi joined Nana Akua on GB News
GB NEWS
The boxer booked her place in the final on Wednesday by beating Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand in the women’s welterweight clash.
She won every round on the judges’ cards and celebrated with a hig in the ring while jubilant Algerian supporters watched on.
Her participation has caused an international storm, triggered by her defeating Angela Carini of Italy just 46 seconds in her opening bout.
Her opponent broke down in tears as she pulled out of the fight, saying she had never been hit so hard.
Khelif said in an interview with SNTV on Sunday: “I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects,” she said in Arabic.
“It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And, because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”