Emotional Imane Khelif slams ‘cruel’ Elon Musk for attack during Olympics gender controversy

Olympic boxer Imane Khelif labeled Elon Musk “cruel” and questioned why the Tesla founder would come at her with such hate when “you don’t even know me.”

Khelif had been at the center of a gender controversy during her gold medal run at the Paris Olympics stemming from her being disqualified from the 2023 IBA World Boxing Championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test.

Musk had been among the high-profile people who had taken to social media and pilled on Khelif over the unsubstantiated claims that she wasn’t a woman and should have been competing against women in the Olympics.

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“Elon Musk was one of the first to attack me during this hate campaign,” Khelif told French TV show CLIQUE, according to a translated video of the interview.

“’He posted this video and it was retweeted. So, he was one of the first to have spread this buzz, this campaign against me. ‘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 the hospital every day.”

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At that point in the interview, Khelif had to fight back tears before she continued.

“So I don’t understand the behavior of people today,” she said. “God is my guide, I am a practicing Muslim woman. I am a Muslim Arabic woman and I got through this moment. I hope I will be even stronger in the future and come back even more motivated.”

Khelif has continued to push back against those who took aim at her during the Olympics over the controversy and Musk was among those in a lawsuit she filed in France over the online harassment she faced.

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“Harry Potter” author JK Rowling was also named in the suit and Khelif’s attorney asked that former President and current Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump be part of the investigation.

Khelif won gold at the Paris Olympics in the 66kg division and controversy came to the forefront after Italian boxer Angela Carini had thrown in the towel 46 seconds into their bout.

More focus came onto the IBA ruling the year before and the International Olympic Committee defended its decision to let Khelif compete this summer.

The IBA had been stripped of its recognition by the IOC as boxing’s governing body and there have been more questions than answers over the test that led to them banning Khelif.

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