Featured Image Credit: APP / NurPhoto via Getty Images / Mike Marsland / WireImage
Topics: Imane Khelif, JK Rowling, Elon Musk, Olympics, Crime, Sport, Boxing, Twitter, Social Media, Donald Trump, Politics
Tom Earnshaw
Topics: Imane Khelif, JK Rowling, Elon Musk, Olympics, Crime, Sport, Boxing, Twitter, Social Media, Donald Trump, Politics
Gold medallist Imane Khelif has filed a lawsuit following comments made about her during the 2024 Paris Olympics, naming Harry Potter creator JK Rowling and Telsa founder Elon Musk in the complaint.
And there is room for former President of the United States Donald Trump to also be brought in to the case, according to the lawyer representing the Algerian boxer.
Khelif won gold in the women's 66kg weight category at the Paris Games, comfortably beating her opponents in every match with the judges giving her unanimous points victories at every stage on her way to gold.
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But for Khelif, the games were marred after her opponent - Italian boxer Angela Carini - walked out of the ring during the fight. This was after just 46 seconds, with Carini - who has since apologised - saying she had 'never been hit so hard in her life'.
As a result of this, she spent the rest of the games having to fight noise outside of the ring over a failed, unspecified 'gender eligibility test' at the 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships.
The International Boxing Association (IBA) banned her from the competition and boxing in women's competitions. But with the IBA stripped of its recognition by the International Olympic Committee over integrity concerns, the IBA ban was not recognised by the IOC in the Olympics.
Instead the IOC used differentiating criteria, including what an athlete's passport says. In the case of Khelif, it states she is female - something she has never not claimed to be.
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Now, Khelif has filed a lawsuit with the French judicial system over comments made on social media following the 'gender eligibility test' row, citing allegations of 'acts of aggravated cyber harassment'.
Nabil Boudi, the Paris-based lawyer representing Khelif, spoke to Variety where he confirmed Rowling and Musk were named in the legal complaint filed with the anti-online hatred centre of the Paris public prosecutor’s office last Friday (9 August).
The lawsuit has been filed against 'unknown persons', which is written as 'X', meaning the prosecution has the scope to investigate 'all people' in relation to what was said about Khelif. This includes anonymous accounts of those with pseudonyms.
Boudi said: "JK Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others.
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"Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution."
The likes of US influencer and WWE boxer Logan Paul backtracked on comments made about Khelif, saying he 'might be guilty of spreading misinformation'.
Rowling had posted on her X (Twitter) account calling Khelif a man who had been 'enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head' during the Carini fight.
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On Musk's X account, he quoted swimmer Riley Gaines' post that said 'men don’t belong in women’s sports', adding: "Absolutely."
Over on social media outlet Truth Social, Trump wrote: "I will keep men out of women's sports."