Olympics Gender Row Boxer, Imane Khelif Slams Elon Musk for 'Cruel' Attack Against Her

Algerian female boxer, Imane Khelif, has publicly condemned tech billionaire Elon Musk for what she describes as a "cruel campaign" against her during the recent summer Olympics.

Khelif, who triumphed with a gold medal in the women's welterweight category, found herself at the center of a heated gender controversy.

Khelif's participation in the Olympics came just a year after she was disqualified from the World Boxing Championships for allegedly having male 'XY' chromosomes, despite being born female.

This decision ignited global outrage and subjected Khelif to widespread accusations and abuse, notably from high-profile figures like Elon Musk and former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Musk reportedly endorsed a post on his social media platform, X, which called for the exclusion of men from women's sports following Khelif's victory in the round of 16 against Italy's Angela Carini. In an emotional interview on the French TV show CLIQUE, Khelif recounted the impact of Musk's actions, stating, "Elon Musk was one of the first to attack me during this hate campaign.

He posted this video and it was retweeted. So, he was one of the first to have spread this buzz, this campaign against me." Fighting back tears, Khelif added, "I would say... you hate me but you don't even know me. I don't even know why you led this attack. You have been cruel to me, cruel to my family, to my mother.

At that time, my mother was going to hospital every day." The boxer has since filed a cyberbullying lawsuit in France, naming Musk, Trump, and author JK Rowling as defendants.

In another interview with Algerian media outlet El Birad, Khelif expressed her distress over the situation, saying, "Immediately after there was a lot of noise from politicians, athletes, stars, artists Elon Musk and Donald Trump and that hurt me a lot, I cannot describe how scared I was." Despite the adversity, Khelif remains resilient. "Thank God, all the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will," she said. "I hope I will be even stronger in the future and come back even more motivated."