Medical test results from Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s 2023 World Championships screening have been reportedly leaked, with the document stating “chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype”.
The report was released by American journalist Alan Abrahamson on the 3 Wire Sports website just 36 hours after World Boxing ruled that Khelif must undergo s£x screening to remain eligible for future female category competition.
The leaked document, dated 17 March 2023, summarises the findings on the Olympic champion as “abnormal”.
The test was conducted at Dr Lal PathLabs in New Delhi, a facility accredited by the American College of Pathologists and certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation.
The results directly relate to Khelif’s disqualification from the 2023 World Championships following the failed gender eligibility test.
The document’s publication challenges the account given by IOC spokesman Mark Adams during a tense news conference at the Paris Olympics.
Adams had described the 2023 test results as “ad hoc” and “not legitimate”, stating: “Those tests are not legitimate tests. The tests themselves, the process of the tests, the ad hoc nature of the tests are not legitimate.”
He further dismissed the testing methodology, saying: “The testing, the method of the testing, the idea of the testing, which happened kind of overnight. None of it is legitimate and this does not deserve any response.”
The emergence of the accredited laboratory documentation from Dr Lal PathLabs contradicts Adams’ characterisation of the testing process as illegitimate.
World Boxing has issued an indefinite ban preventing Khelif from competing in the female category at any of its events, including the upcoming Eindhoven Box Cup scheduled for 5-10 June 2025.
The governing body sent a letter to the Algerian Boxing Federation confirming that “Imane Khelif may not participate in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup, 5-10 June 2025 and any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes genetic sex screening in accordance with World Boxing’s rules and testing procedures”.
This development threatens Khelif’s stated ambitions to defend her gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
The controversy surrounding Khelif began with her disqualification from the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi by the International Boxing Association, which claimed she had failed gender eligibility tests.
The IBA president, Umar Kremlev, stated that Khelif possessed XY chromosomes, the male pattern.
Despite this, Khelif went on to compete at the Paris Olympics after the IOC stripped the Russian-led IBA of its governing duties and replaced it with the Paris Boxing Unit.
Khelif was cleared to compete based on having a female passport and identifying as female.
The 26-year-old dominated the 66kg competition, defeating China’s Yang Liu via unanimous decision in the final to become Algeria’s second Olympic gold medallist.
Throughout her participation, the IOC faced sustained pressure to address ongoing questions about her biological s£x classification.
