Gender row boxer Imane Khelif refuses to give up on the Olympics, hitting the gym hours after trans athletes were banned from women’s sport, having vowed: ‘I’m a girl – and I’ll take a sex test’

Imane Khelif refuses to give up on the Olympics and shared a video of an explosive workout on Instagram.

The Algerian player is determined to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Games despite the International Olympic Committee’s crackdown on transgender and DSD athletes.

The IOC on Thursday clamped down on transgender DSD (Disorder of Sex Development) athletes by requiring sex testing for anyone wishing to compete in a women’s event. Athletes with CSD must prove that they do not benefit from increased testosterone levels.

Khelif has a naturally high testosterone level – but takes medication to reduce it – and was dragged into gender controversy at the 2024 Paris Olympics after failing gender conformity testing with the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023.

The 26-year-old, who is open to taking a sex test, definitely made a splash with this latest workout video.

Khelif was filmed lifting barbells, doing hand push-ups, hitting a bike, working out with dumbbells and doing pull-ups in a variety workout.

Algerian player determined to compete in 2028 and ready to undergo sex test as required

Coach Karim Ya wrote in his post: ‘Nothing is easy. Everything is deserved.

‘Every workout is important. Every effort brings you closer to war.’

Khelif won the heavyweight gold medal in the last Olympics and looks set to compete in the next Olympics as well.

Fellow cross-gender boxer Lin Yu-ting, who claimed the featherweight title in Paris, recently received permission to return to World Boxing events after a sex test, casting doubt on the fairness of the debate over her gender.

Khelif received plenty of support in the comments section of trainer Ya’s post and has reached 1.7 million followers on Instagram.

Returning to Algeria with a gold medal, Khelif received a hero’s welcome and said: ‘I am fully qualified. I am a woman like every other woman. I was born as a woman, I lived as a woman, I competed as a woman; ‘There’s no doubt about that.’

Khelif has not competed since World Boxing introduced sex tests last year and has taken the fight to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to compete without testing, for which a hearing has yet to be held.

But the fighter is happy to take the sex test for the next Olympics, telling CNN in February: ‘Of course, I would be willing to do whatever I have to do to qualify for the competition.

‘They should protect women, but they need to be careful not to harm other women while protecting women.’

Transgender athletes are now barred from participating in women’s sports at the Olympics (image: Laurel Hubbard at the 2021 Tokyo Games)

All athletes wishing to participate in women’s competitions must undergo sex testing (image: Imane Khelif)

Olympic chief Kirsty Coventry says new rule will help ensure the safety of female stars

Last year, Trump signed an executive order titled ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’. The president referred to Khelif as a “male boxer” who had “transitioned” and “stolen the women’s gold medal” by competing in Paris.

The president further emphasized calling Khelif a “man” in his speech to Republican lawmakers in January.

Trump had previously claimed that Khelif was transgender. Our current understanding is that this is wrong. As far as we know, the boxer was born female but is believed to have the SRY gene associated with male sex chromosomes.

Khelif told L’Equipe: “I respect everyone and I respect Trump because he is the president of the United States. ‘Trump cannot distort the truth. I am not trans, I am a girl.

‘I grew up as a girl, I grew up as a girl, people in my village always knew me as a girl.’