Paris Olympics 2024: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif names JK Rowling and Elon Musk in lawsuit
The Algerian boxer and Olympic champion Imane Khelif has named JK Rowling and Elon Musk in an online bullying lawsuit at the Paris prosecutor's office, her lawyer has said, after facing weeks of abuse and online vitriol over her gender following her stunning performances at the Paris games.
Speaking to Variety magazine on Tuesday, Khelif's lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said the boxer, who won gold in the women's 66kg weight division, was subject to a "misogynist, racist and sexist campaign".
Khelif defeated world champion Yang Liu in a unanimous decision on Friday, after facing weeks of online abuse concerning her gender - which her lawyer described as a "digital lynching".
The 25-year-old drew some of the biggest headlines of the Olympics after Italian boxer Angela Carini withdrew 46 seconds into their bout and refused to shake the Algerian’s hand.
"It's not right," Carini could be heard muttering after Khelif was declared the winner.
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"I felt a severe pain in my nose, and with the maturity of a boxer, I said 'enough' because I didn't want to. I didn't want to. I couldn't finish the match," Carini later told reporters.
The match prompted international scrutiny of Khelif, with world leaders and celebrities weighing in to question the boxer's eligibility.
British author Joanne Rowling, known by her pen name JK Rowling, referred to Khelif as a "male" and accused her of "enjoying the distress of a woman he's just punched in the head and whose life's ambition he's just shattered".
The writer has faced criticism from human rights activists in recent years for her views on transgender issues, asserting that biological sex is immutable.
On Truth Social, US presidential candidate Donald Trump declared: "I will keep men out of women's sports," while his vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, said that "Kamala Harris' ideas about gender" have led "to a grown man pummelling a woman in a boxing match".
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also joined the bandwagon, saying: "I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions… from my point of view it was not an even contest."
Sharing a post by swimmer Riley Gaines that claimed "men don’t belong in women's sports," X owner and Tesla CEO Musk chimed in, writing: "Absolutely."
Khelif has never identified as a man, transgender or intersex, a term that refers to people with both male and female sex characteristics.
However, she was disqualified from the 2023 World Athletics Championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test, a decision the International Olympic Committee (IOC) described as an "arbitrary decision taken without any proper procedure" and "contrary to good governance".
According to Boudi, under French law, the suit grants the prosecution "the latitude to be able to investigate against all people", including people who used pseudonyms.
He said that Rowling and Musk were named in the lawsuit, before adding that Trump would be part of the investigation.
"Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution," Boudi told Variety.
'They should not bully people'
While women typically have XX chromosomes, some genetic conditions, such as Swyer Syndrome, can result in a woman being born with XY chromosomes.
Addressing the campaign against her, Khelif said on Sunday that: "My message to the whole world is that they should commit to Olympic principles and they should not bully people.
"The Olympic values are extremely important. I hope people will stop bullying," she added.
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