Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif Takes Legal Action Over Gender Controversy

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has filed a formal complaint over the intense online harassment she's faced throughout the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Over the past two weeks, Khelif has continued to make worldwide headlines due to controversy surrounding her gender. The 25-year-old is a cisgender woman, but fans, media outlets, and even the athletes she has faced have spoken out arguing that the International Olympic Committee should not have allowed her to compete in the women's competition due to allegations that she was actually transgender or even a man.

On Friday, Khelif filed a formal legal complaint with a prosecutor in Paris for "aggravated cyber harassment" online. Khelif's lawyer Nabil Boudi made the announcement on Instagram.

In the statement, Boudi called the issues Khelif has faced as a " misogynist, racist, and sexist campaign ."

"The unfair harassment suffered by the boxing champion will remain the biggest stain of these Olympic Games," Boudi wrote.

The complaint came on the same day that Khelif defeated Yang Liu of China in the 66-kilogram gold medal match to put her on top of the Olympic podium for the first time.

Khelif is a second-time time Olympian who also boxed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. At those games, her run to glory was short-lived as she crashed out in the quarterfinal to the eventual gold medalist Kellie Harrington of Ireland.