Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif ignited a massive firestorm during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Identifying and competing as a female athlete, Khelif dominated the women’s division, winning gold after taking every bout.

In one particular match, Italian female boxer Angela Carini tapped out after 46 seconds — stunned by two punches she described as the hardest she had ever felt. But the real controversy wasn’t the fight itself. The controversy was that Khelif, despite insisting he was a woman, was not biologically female.

The controversy erupted globally during the Games. Yet even before Paris, the International Boxing Association (IBA) had disqualified Khelif from the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships after he failed a sex-eligibility test. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, took a different path by allowing him to compete.

Though Khelif has never openly identified as transgender, he chose to enter the women’s category — and the IOC defended the decision. In an official statement, the committee declared: “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit.” Critics, including the IBA, doubled down that Khelif was biologically male and had no place competing against women.

It was a season of immense confusion and debate, and the case hadn’t been settled. That is, until now. Over a year after this debacle, Khelif has finally confessed: he does, in fact, have male chromosomes.

The news came out during a recent interview with the French sports outlet L’Équipe. He admitted that he possesses the SRY gene (Sex-determining Region Y), a marker carried exclusively on the Y chromosome that initiates typical male development. Khelif confirmed this while boldly announcing his intent to defend his title in the women’s division at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “I want to … become the first person in Algerian sport to successfully defend their Olympic title,” he said.

Prominent voices wasted no time in calling on the IOC to strip him of his Paris gold medal.

Former All-American swimmer Riley Gaines stated that Khelif’s admission proves “a man was awarded an Olympic gold medal for beating women to a pulp. Nothing can right this wrong, but the IOC can start by revoking his medal.” Tennis legend Martina Navratilova echoed the sentiment on X: “Well, what do you know??? Take the medal away!!!” Biologist Colin Wright, CEO of Reality’s Last Stand, stated plainly that “Imane Khelif has now openly admitted to having the SRY gene, a gene found on the Y chromosome that causes an embryo to develop into a male. Therefore, Khelif is a man.”

Meanwhile, Khelif continues to argue that, despite the SRY gene and XY chromosomes (as indicated by prior leaked tests and his own confirmation), he is a woman with female hormones. He claims to undergo testosterone-suppressing treatments to meet eligibility criteria. “For the next Games,” he said of 2028, “if I have to take a test, I will. I have no problem with that. I’ve already taken this test. I contacted World Boxing, I sent them my medical records, my hormone tests, everything. But I haven’t had any response. I’m not hiding, I’m not refusing the tests.”

Stepping back, this case involves rare biological complexities. As some have argued, these circumstances point to a two-fold reality: One, there are sexual anomalies that people, including athletes, can and do experience. Two, men should not compete in women’s sports. Mary Szoch, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Human Dignity, balanced this well in a comment to The Washington Stand.

She acknowledged the dichotomy between what Khelif is saying and what critics are saying. “If Imane Khelif was actually born with a female body and found out somewhere along the line that chromosomally that body was male, then Imane’s story is an incredibly sad and shockingly rare one,” she said. “If it truly is the case, whether Imane should compete in male or female sports is probably just one of many incredibly difficult questions that this person has to navigate.”

Szoch noted the confusing nature of this case, stressing the importance of handling these cases “with compassion and sensitivity. And if this story is true, everyone needs to be clear — this is not what the transgender movement has been about.” The trans movement, as she went on to explain, has been against “the men … trying to play women’s sports [who] are typically men born with male bodies and male chromosomes — men, who their whole lives have known they were men, and decided to masquerade as women.” Such scenarios, she argued, pose clear risks to the safety and fairness of women’s and girls’ sports, potentially erasing the protected female category altogether.

Szoch’s balanced perspective sought to reinforce a fundamental principle that unites critics and compassionate observers alike: “Women’s sports should be for women only.”

This latest development of Khelif’s confirmation of the SRY gene underscores that biological reality, rooted in chromosomes and developmental pathways, cannot be fully overridden by policy, self-identification, or hormone suppression alone. At best, this reflects a rare anomaly requiring careful, individualized consideration. At worst, the IOC’s approach in 2024 prioritized inclusion in a way that compromised fairness, safety, and opportunities for female athletes.

Szoch’s call for compassion toward rare cases while firmly upholding women-only categories in sports offered a reasonable path forward: protect the integrity of women’s divisions without dismissing the human dignity of those navigating extraordinary biological circumstances.