Fighter who faced Imane Khelif claims gender row boxer is ‘a MAN’ – and reveals Algerian camp’s bizarre claims about how she had been ‘biologically altered’

A former training opponent of Olympic gold medal boxer Imane Khelif has labelled the Algerian as ‘a man’ and bizarrely suggested she has been ‘biologically altered’ by living in the mountains.

The claim comes in the wake of the Games in Paris where Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting both won Olympic gold in various boxing weight categories amid rows over their eligibility to compete.

Both fighters had previously been disqualified by the IBA from competing at the World Championships in 2023 after failing a gender test but had insisted that they were born female.

IOC president Thomas Bach struggled when pressed on controversial issues such as Khelif’s and is now set to step down from his position with Lord Sebastien Coe in the frame to replace him.

Meanwhile, Khelif was given a heroes welcome in Algeria as she returned with an Olympic gong following the closing ceremony in Paris on Sunday where she carried the nation’s flag.

Khelif won gold at the Paris Olympics but faced controversy over her eligibility to compete

The 25-year-old faced multiple questions on her status in the boxing gender row at the Games

The 25-year-old faced multiple questions on the gender row at the Games and always defended her presence, insisting after her win: ‘I am fully qualified. I am a woman like any other woman.’

However, Bulgarian-Nigerian women’s boxer Joana Nwamerue has labelled Khelif as a ‘man’ and explained how during a sparring session in February witnessed the Olympic champion’s ‘male power and male techniques’.

‘[Khelif] has some kind of internal issues. But he is a man. I will stay [by] my words until he/she does a test to prove to the world that he/she is a WOMAN. But we all know that won’t happen,’ Nwamerue told Reduxx.

‘I think we played 3-4 sparring sessions. I have a record of everything. I can confirm that this is a man to me. Male power. Men’s techniques, everything,’ she added.

Nwamerue then went onto suggest that Khelif has been ‘biologically altered’ by living in the mountain ranges of Algeria.

Bulgarian-Nigerian women’s boxer Joana Nwamerue (pictured) has labelled Khelif as a ‘man’

Taiwan ‘s Lin Yu-Ting (left) also faced controversy over her eligibility at the Olympics

Nwamerue added: ‘[Khelif’s] teammates came to me and told me ‘Imane is not a man. 

‘She is a woman and just lives high in the mountains with her relatives and parents and so there may be a change in her testosterone or chromosomes and the like.’  

Having flown back to Algeria following the conclusion of the Paris Games on Sunday night, Khelif and the Algerian Olympic delegation were met by fans, reporters and government officials at the Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers.

Khelif smiled and presented her gold medal to members of the crowd outside of the Airport terminal, while appearing to fist-pump the air in celebration of her victory.